Zim’s ‘Medium as the Message 2.0’. Notes on a January 2019 Internet Shutdown.

By Takura Zhangazha*

I will begin with an anecdote.  A couple of weeks ago the royalty of Zimbabwean political Twitter had a decent enough rage against Econet Wireless Zimbabwe founder (and now also a multi-media mogul) Strive Masiyiwa over what appeared to be his own personal political persuasions.  He had decided to talk back, via social media, to those who were and still are criticizing his alleged role in assisting to prop up the global image of the Mnangagwa government vis-à-vis the sanctions on Zimbabwe debate. A friend noted the slight irony as the ‘twar’ (twitter war) ensued between those that supported Masiyiwa’s stance and those that derided it.  All for very political and business-centered reasons. 

The anecdotal point was when he highlighted with an ironic chuckle the probable fact that a majority of those that were either criticizing or supporting Masiyiwa were probably accessing social media via Econet Wireless, ZOL or Liquid fibre-optic company.  All of which are majority share-owned by Masiyiwa.  At least in Zimbabwe.  And this is where the anecdotal/ironic evidence ends.

There was to be a more serious event of urban protests and a mass work stay-away in mid January 2019, the effects of which we will still feel for a while yet as Zimbabweans. Ostensibly over abrupt fuel price increases, as personally announced by Mnangagwa.  The violence that ensued particularly and was popularly perceived as being the state against civilians led to what now appears to be a common habit of a number of global governments under some sort of political siege.

Zimbabwe’s government implemented an undemocratic internet (including social media) shutdown. 

Enabled by the minister in the president’s office for state security (Owen Ncube), confirmed by short message service (sms) by Masiyiwa’s most popularly used Econet mobile phone network and eventually to be successfully challenged in court by media freedom organization MISA Zimbabwe, this was information shock therapy for many an urban(e) Zimbabwean. 

As in 2016 when the nationally increasingly popular WhatsApp social media platform gained credence, Zimbabweans had come to rely on it for immediate information.  And more significantly a reliance that was mediated by their (increasing in number) smart(er) mobile phones.  Combined with access to social media. 

It was in this particular national instance that the ‘medium’ became the ‘message’.  

I know that this sounds somewhat sophisticated or convoluted.  But this is as learnt from Marshal Mcluhan. 

And this is what happened again from 14-21 January 2019 in Zimbabwe.  The medium quite literally became the message.  How Zimbabweans got information determined their behavior.  Hence the government sought to undemocratically cut off the internet link the country has with the global world.  And as controlled by corporate superpowers that control both the medium (technology) and mediate its message(ing).  Ditto WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Econet, Huawei, Samsung and in our national context, a little bit of Apple.

 All in combination and to maximum possible effect.  

As long as the medium (your phone and its access to the internet) was able to land everyday political events into your palm.  Even if you were and are in what traditionally has been a private place. 

Mobile telephony has become a primary source of information for many Zimbabweans. Both politically and apolitically. 

I would hazard to add that it has become more than a monetary currency.  One that would be individualistic in ownership and associational in mutual benefit.  The more information you have, the more likely you are to share it and the greater the sharing the more likely you re to act on the information received or imparted.  Individually or collectively. 

The medium has therefore come to be the determinant of specific behavior.  It has replaced the usual church meeting with a virtual experience. The latter being a combination of both the medium and the message (have smart phone, do a prayer post).  So long it meets two specific requirements, personal gratification and by individuated default, collective catharsis. All as mediated by your mobile phone and its access to, specifically, social media.

The reasons why many of us in Zimbabwe have come to this space of perception of the combined fundamental importance of social media and mobile telephony is that we have been long deprived of balanced and accurate nodes of accessing of information that we have deemed to be publicly important. 

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation has remained a state and nationally partisan broadcaster while simultaneously the private media has countered the former’s news narrative in default favour of the mainstream political opposition. 

We therefore want our own version of the truth. Or at least what we perceive it to be. Via the medium.

In such a news partisan media environment, social media (the message) and the mobile phone as it impacts the individual was always going to rise in political and national consciousness significance.

And in this, again, the medium as the message has significantly helped to put a light on the tragic circumstances in which lives were tragically lost and brought the same to global mainstream media attention.

But back to my initial and only anecdote in this blog.  The mobile telephony operators and owners of fibre optic cables (those that own the medium) that connect Zimbabwe to the rest of the world cannot claim a Pontius Pilate moment on Zimbabwe’s recent internet shutdown.  Be it as globally high up as with Huawei, Samsung, Apple (and others) or locally as with Telecel, Netone or Econet.   Nor should those that are in control of content and attendant algorithms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter do the same. 

We will always require a combination of the ‘real’ and the ‘virtual’ to come to a publicly-democratic accountable way forward to move Zimbabwe to a better social democratic space.  And we need to heed the warning that while the medium may be the message, the oxymoron is not enough to help us cross the flooded and tragic river. 

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura.zhangazha-blogspot.com)