By Takura Zhangazha*
Zimbabwe’s Commissioner
General of the Police Service, Augustine Chihuri recently told a pass out
parade that he is worried about the negative impact that social media is having
on peace in our society. While not citing
specific instances where and when social media has affected peace, he did not
hide his dislike of the fact that even his officers are also using the same to communicate
what he referred to as ‘nonsense’.
I am not sure why he chose to talk about a subject that is
probably not quite within his mandate.
But he has a right to his opinion. Even if it is received via the same social
media platforms that he deplores.
Coincidentally, on the same day that his views were made
public, Zimbabwe’s constitutional court delivered a judgment that determined criminal defamation law to be unconstitutional.
This is a development that means the state will not have the right to
arrest and institute criminal charges against someone for what they publish or
say about anyone else. And the immediate
assumption is that this also includes things said or published via the social
media platforms that Commissioner Chihuri finds to be ‘full of negative things.’
Defamation is therefore now a civil matter where people can
sue each other for perceived damages to reputations without anyone ending up
behind bars or in criminal courts.
But beyond Commissioner Chihuri’s opinion, which I politely
disagree with, social media is of the utmost democratic importance to
Zimbabweans. Even if they are not all connected
to it for reasons that vary from a lack of resources to limited connectivity in
rural areas or general mistrust of the platforms.
The contextual democratic significance of these platforms is
to be found in the fact that they allow everyone to communicate and express
themselves much faster and at less cost. They are essentially tools that
enhance the democratic right all of us have to freedom of expression and access
to information . Their only primary
limitation is that they must not infringe on our shared right to privacy or to
be used in the commitment of a crime.
While the content carried on these platforms can be acerbic,
unpleasant and even defamatory that does not make them deplorable or
against the national peace. Even if they are used to express an opinion different
from that of the next person.
In the current political environment social media use in Zimbabwe
has also come to be used as a means through which prominent politicians express
their opinions.Even if it is against party directives banning the use of such platforms for members. The recent publication by
the Zimbabwe Independent of a Whatsapp conversation between the Minister of War
Veterans Chris Mutsvangwa and presidential spokesperson George Charamba is a
case in point. Other examples include the
use of Twitter by the Minister of Higher Education Jonathan Moyo to publish his views of some of his cabinet and government colleagues.
In these examples what social media has allowed to get into
the public domain, without compelling any of the cited users to do so, is the
fact that there are serious differences in the ruling Zanu Pf party that border
on the personal. And also that
factionalism is currency within their party especially where it relates to
issues of succession. That we know this
via social media does not make these same platforms a threat to peace. Far from it. In fact it is in the public
interest for us to now that all is not well within the ruling party.
Furthermore, for us to know that key players
in the same enjoy using social media as much as the rest of us in aide of their
right to freedom of expression and access to information. Except that we may not be in the invidious position
of using it to attempt to settle personal and political scores.
What is apparent is that rise in the use of social media
applications in Zimbabwe is inevitable. And so too will their ability to impact on people’s
political and social views as well as lives.
It is an impact that will largely be positive in Zimbabwe’s information
and freedom of expression starved context.
More-so for young Zimbabweans who have taken to it as ducks take to
water. It has become an extension of not
only how they can express their views but also how they perceive our society
and what is going on in it. That is not
a bad thing. It is a welcome and democratic
development. And where someone differs with this view they should go ahead,
tweet it, facebook it or share it via a Whatsapp group.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
(takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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