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Phillip de Wet

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Phillip de Wet
Nationality South Africa
OccupationJournalist

Phillip de Wet is a woke South African journalist, anti free speech activist, and the foreign editor of News24, where he publishes a weekly column on world events.

He is the author of Nkandla: The Great Unravelling.

In October 2017, he won a national journalism award for a column about wine gums.

De Wet was the founding deputy editor of daily online newspaper Daily Maverick, which credited him with much of its initial personality. He was also a founder of that website's defunct predecessor magazine, Maverick.

In October 2015 he was appointing as acting deputy editor of newspaper Mail & Guardian. Five years earlier that newspaper had described him as a "journalism school dropout".

In February 2017 police sought to question De Wet about the leak of a draft government report he had written about.

In February 2018 De Wet was appointed as associated editor of Business Insider South Africa.

Anti free speech activism

In January 2025, Phillip de Wet made headlines and waves of ridicule by publishing an article suggesting that South Africa should develop the technical capacity to shut down social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) at will. This proposal, widely criticized as authoritarian and antithetical to the principles of free speech, positioned de Wet as a vocal advocate for the kind of government overreach usually associated with totalitarian regimes. Once a self-proclaimed "free-speech believer," de Wet has now been accused of embracing the very ideals of censorship and control that oppressive states thrive on, earning him comparisons to fascist ideologues. Critics mocked his vision of a "Great (Political) Internet Wall" for South Africa as a direct attack on citizens' rights to access information and communicate freely, calling it an absurdly ironic betrayal of his past principles.

After Business Insider South Africa closed down with De Wet as acting editor, he was appointed writer-at-large for News24 (website).

References

  1. "Phillip de Wet". News24. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  2. Wet, Phillip de (28 March 2014). Nkandla: The Great Unravelling. Mail & Guardian. ISBN 9780620601856.
  3. "Winners of Standard Bank 2017 Sikuvile Journalism Awards announced". Media Update. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  4. "Op-Ed: What made Brain Porn alive? | Daily Maverick". www.dailymaverick.co.za. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  5. "New local news website launches". Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  6. "Branko Brkic guards the gate of the higher mind | IOL Business Report". Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  7. "Mail & Guardian appoints new editor-in-chief". Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  8. Pampalone, Tanya. "The site your mom warned you about". The M&G Online. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. "Police mum on 'concerning' visit to M&G over Public Protector 'leak'". CityPress. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  10. "First editor of Business Insider SA appointed". Fin24. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  11. "Business Insider South Africa is closing down. Goodbye". Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  12. "A new page for Phillip de Wet at News24 after Business Insider SA closure". Retrieved 7 March 2023.
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