The Zimbabwean government has not set limits on what Zimbabweans can post on social media, nor has it put in place systems to monitor the media, said Information Director Ndavaningi Mangwana.
Zimbabwe enacted its Data Protection Act on December 3rd last year. Ostensibly aimed at curbing cybercrime and improving trust in ICT, activists say the law could be weaponized to target critics of the government and ruling party. afraid of
South Africa’s Media Institute (Misa) also called on the government not to use the law to criminalize fake news.
However, Mangwana told NewsDay that the government has no intention of censoring social media.
“We are not censoring social media, but cybercrime is treated like any other crime according to the Constitution. We don’t have gadgets to monitor social media,” Mangwana told NewsDay.
His comments contradict his boss, Information Minister Monica Mutsvanwa, who said the government had appointed a team to monitor what Zimbabweans post on social media around the clock.
Zimbabwe Online Content Creators (Zocc) President Toneo Ruzit said online content creators were plagued by “over-enthusiasm and excitement from the government over social media regulation”.
“Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) spokesperson Jasper Mangwana recently needed to monitor social media and especially those caught on the wrong side of the law for spreading fake news. said.
“However, we are disappointed by the increasing willingness of governments to reach out to the digital sector, especially media and journalism.
“As far as media is concerned, we are experts, so we should allow stories to run independently, but story publishers should review content before publishing..
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