With the 2018 elections approaching, it appers the internet-based news sites and social media are one of gthe key areas government is looking to censor in order to tighten access to information.
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Already, the Information Communication Technology ministry has started working on enacting a Cyber Law that is seen as an attempt to deal with internet platforms that appear to publish information that is seen to be anti government.
With revelations that some news websites like zimnewsblog.com, run by Australian based journalist Victor Chatikobo are under the microscope of the ministry for possible legal action in the event the Cyber Law is enacted, it appears government is determined to stifle freedom of expression on the internet ahead of elections.
In the past several individuals have been prosecuted for postings things deemed to be offensive to President Robert Mugabe and government on social media, indicating government’s determination to gag open debate on social networks.
Internet and social media will be critical in deciding the 2018 election campaing given that a signifocant population of Zimbabweans now have access to the internet and there has been a significant rise in the number of web based news platforms focusing on the Zimbabwean story.
A year after the 2013 elections, Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi was arrested for allegedly being behind the popular Facebook page Baba Jukwa and although he was later acquitted, he jad suffered tremendously in the hands of state security agents. Many other journalists have also been arrested or harassed in the hands of state security agents
