also growing rapidly and constantly with more than twenty online news web sites. a. Constitutional safeguards on the right to information and freedom of expression 54. Since independence, conscious of the importance and role that freedom of opinion plays in developing and consolidating the rule of law, Senegal acceded to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and established the foundations of the right to communication in her founding Charter. In fact, Article 8 of the 1963 Constitution laid down the principle of freedom of expression. This principle is taken up in the Constitution of 22 January 2001, which in its preamble, reaffirms « her adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human and Citizenship Rights of 1789 and the international instruments adopted by the United Nations Organisation (UNO) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 10 December 1948, the Convention on the Elimination of Forms of Discrimination against Women of 18 December 1979, the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989 and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 27 June 1981 » 55. The Senegalese Constitution, in Article 8, recognizes « fundamental individual freedoms », « civil and political liberties » among which feature prominently freedom of opinion and expression, and affirms in Article 10 that « each one has the right to express and freely disseminate their opinions through speech, writing, images, peaceful march insofar as exercising such rights does not impugn the honor and reputation of another person or public order ». This affirmation is consolidated and supplemented by Article 11 which stipulates that « the establishment of a media organization for political, economic, cultural, sporting, social, recreational or scientific information is free and shall not be subject to any prior authorization ». 56. Freedom of the press is therefore a constitutional freedom in Senegal, a fundamental freedom that is all the more valuable as its existence is one of the basic guarantees of the respect for other rights and freedoms as well as national sovereignty. Freedom of expression is a condition and a guarantee for democracy. 57. However, the implementation of freedom of the press may not be effective without a certain level of organisation of the landscape by public authorities. That explains why, apart from the provisions laid down in the different texts, the Senegalese press regime has outlined its own regulations on the press especially Law 96-04 of 22 February 1996 on social communication organizations, professional journalists and communication technicians. 58. Furthermore, the Government has established independent administrative authorities to regulate the sector. These authorities include: 15