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The government of Zimbabwe has announced that it has appointed a team to monitor activity on social media channels around the clock.
This was said by Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, who was quick to say that the government did not intend to regulate social media.
“We have actually come up with a cyber-team that is constantly on social media to monitor what people send and receive since we cannot wish social media away,” Mutsvangwa said.
The announcement comes at a time when the Cybersecurity and Data Protection Bill is awaiting assent into law.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has been pushing for the bill to punish suspected social media ‘abusers’.
Whilst most people in Zimbabwe have celebrated social media as a beacon of democracy and a corruption buster, democratic space in the country is shrinking as the government seems uncomfortable with the new-found platform for freedom of speech and expression.
To authorities, social media is being wrongly perceived as an anti-government platform used to mobilise protests and tarnish the image of the country.
“We are also appealing to the Zimbabweans and top government officials that whatever message they post on social media should be to build not to destroy the community,” added Mutsvangwa.
The government had no role in regulating social media since it did not own any social media network, said Spanyoge Madziwa a media studies lecturer at Harare Polytechnic.
“With the advent of technology, we have seen an improvement in the use of digital space for people to air their concerns without fear. So there is no need to regulate social media, people must be free,” he argued.
Other analysts said whilst they share concerns over abuse of social media to spread hate speech, fake news and promote terrorism, the role of regulating and preventing such does not lie with government but with tech companies.
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