Staff Writer

Social media platforms such as Facebook (FB), Twitter  and Whatsapp, among others,  have been applauded for bringing people from across the globe closer together.

These platforms have been used to  exchange information ranging from the romantic to the political and economic.

Zimbabweans have also joined these platforms to express political opinions or communicate with friends, family and associations that they belong to.  Especially via the use of smartphones and laptops with relatively cheap internet connectivity.

It has also become common to read on Zimbabwean citizen’s  social media platforms  opinions on how they are governed and general comments about the state of the national economy.

This has however been reduced due to the controversial Facebook character Baba Jukwa led to the state acting to arrest the editor of the Sunday Mail, Edmund Kudzayi  on allegations of espionage and treason.

While the latter’s trial is ongoing, the state has now announced through the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority plans to bring before Parliament a Cyber Security Bill.

Recently acting Director of POTRAZ,  Alfred Mariga told an Information Communication and Technology (ICT)   Portfolio Committee hearing that the Cyber Security Bill had been forwarded to the President’s Office.

Mariga stated that POTRAZ was in the final stages of crafting cyber laws that will enable prosecution of people who have been fingered as “abusing” cyber platforms.

The intention of government through POTRAZ have had negative reactions from media experts and analysts.  The reasons given relate to fears that the move is aimed at hindering freedom of expression on social media platforms.

Information CommunicationsTechnology (ICT) lecturer Brian Hondo said that such attempts by the government was repressive as the whole world had embraced social media and the internet to allow citizens to exchange their views freely.

“What the government is attempting to do is repressive since the world has embraced social media platforms with governments allowing people to communicate freely.

I don’t think it is proper to regulate and prosecute people for expressing their views ,” said Hondo.

Human Rights lawyer Chris Mhike said that the state is attempting to infringe freedom of expression among its citizens but that can be challenged in the country’s courts.

“Section 61 of the constitution guarantees freedom of expression and of the media with subsection 1 stating that every person has the right to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information.

Also under that section every person has the right to freedom of conscience which includes freedom of thought and opinion,” said Mhike.

Political Commentator Alexander Rusero said that the state was being paranoid in seeking to monitor social media.

“Our government is paranoid of citizens who engage on social platforms and deliberate on issues that affect them .People are worried about how the economy is performing and need clues on how the government will solve such a crisis.

But it seems the politicians are clueless and are concentrating much on power accumulation hence they want to control  the flow of information  .I don’t see them achieving that since a certain section of our constitution allows such freedom,” said Rusero.

However social commentor Wellington Zimbowa has a different view and applauded POTRAZ saying that social media platforms had to regulate so as to prevent abuse that might trigger social unrest.

Zimbowa cited the unrest that toppled former Maghreb states strong men, Colonel Muammer Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

“Social media platforms need to be regulated so as to weed out people who may cause instability in the country. For instance the chaos that took place in Libya and Egypt was as a result of  social media hence I applaud POTRAZ for that,” said Zimbowa.

If passed into law, POTRAZ will have the authority to monitor and regulate social media platforms such as Facebook and have powers to instruct possible arrests of individuals who might have offended or threatened state security.

Recently former Sunday Mail Editor Edmund Kudzai was arrested and languished at the Harare Remand Prison after being suspected of being the face behind the controversial Baba Jukwa character but he was later released on bail

University of Zimbabwe (UZ) student Romeo Tanyaradzwa was arrested for posting on Baba Jukwa’s wall asking him to provide arms of war to fight the government. He was later granted bail.

Zimbabwe risks being classified along Cyber unfriendly countries that either don’t allow social media platforms or maintain a tight grip on them .These countries include Islamic state of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and China.