Who should be interested in Internet Governance (IG)?
Who should be interested in Internet Governance (IG)
Individual
Individuals should be interested in IG because of:
• The high risk of encountering spam, identity theft and other cyber related
violations
• There are also critical issues related to accessing the internet, such as cost at
individual or commercial level, protection of intellectual property and
consumer protection in general.
• Individual rights issues that should be upheld online that include child
protection, in relation to pornography as well hate speech and civil
defamation online.
• The need to be aware of and observe security and privacy online
• The need to be aware of unfair practises online such as blocking, throttling
prioritisation of some online services.
Government
Government should be interested in IG because of:
• The role it is expected to play in ensuring safety and security online for its
citizens by curbing cybercrimes and raising awareness on cyber security
issues.
• Its obligations on child online safety and privacy of its citizens online
• The role it is expected to play insuring the development of infrastructure, its
security and access to the internet by the citizens
• It is mandated to manage critical Internet resources, ensure the availability
of funding for various forums and research
• The emergence of electronic money services, that includes e-commerce,
e-money and e- banking.
Private Sector
The private sector and civil society should be interested in IG because:
• In many jurisdictions private sector constitutes a significant enabler, active
participant and an equal threat to actual enjoyment of rights and freedoms
associated with the internet more than the state.
• In restrictive environments, internet service providers (ISPs), are proactive in
censoring or filtering information on websites and traffic. An appropriate
example of such is China, where several companies were actively supporting
the government in censorship, these include Yahoo Inc!, Google. Inc,
Microsoft Corporation and Skype.
• Debates on Intellectual property in relation to business and profit are central
to the sector.
Existing Laws and regulatory frameworks that govern the Internet
Currently the laws that are in place that govern the internet in Zimbabwe
include the following:
• Postal Telecommunications Act, which is administered by POTRAZ.
• Interception of Communications Act (ICA) and in particular the existence and
operations of the Monitoring and interception and Communications Centre
(MICC). In terms of the ICA the monitoring centre shall be manned,
controlled and operated by technical experts designated by the agency. It
will among others functions of intercepting and monitoring give technical
advice to authorised persons; and service providers on the interception of
communications in terms of ICA. This mandate of the MICC is wide and
equally unchecked as the enabling provisions of the ICA.
• Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act as it has several provisions that
may apply to use on the internet platforms. Already Zimbabwe has a
precedent cases which include Vikazi Mavhudzi who went through trial over
a Facebook post on former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and that of the
Edmund and Philip Kudzayi who were accused of trying to overthrow the
government by using the Facebook Muckracking character Baba Jukwas
page. In both cases the two were not persecuted as the state failed to bring
eveidence against, and withdrew the charges, respectively
INTERNET GOVERNANCE MULTISTAKEHOLDER
CONFERENCE REPORT 2015

• Broadcasting Services Act and in particular, the role of the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe. The act assigns the role and responsibility of BAZ in
“the advancement of appropriate technology relating to broadcasting
systems and services.” Broadcasting services means any service which
delivers television or radio programmes to persons having equipment
appropriate for receiving that service, whether the delivery is effected by
means of or uses the radiofrequency spectrum, cable, optical fibre, satellite
or any other means or a combination of those means. BAZ is also responsible
for oversight on datacasting and web casting services this effectively creates
synergies with POTRAZ or possible confusion on roles and responsibilities of
these institutions.
• Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act. This act is in need of review
because its relevance and applicability with the digital world is very much
limited.
• Consumer Contracts Act (CCA) Because of increased competition and need to
maximise on services, consumers are vulnerable to anti-competition
behaviour from service providers and even false misleading and
misrepresentation of services available. As currently framed the CCA is
insufficient for purposes of addressing potential threats posed by expansion
of technologies and internet usage, critically undermining internet
governance framework. In the absence of interest to adopt/produce a
revised Consumer Protection Bill, there is need for inclusion of provisions on
consumer protection in one of the major laws regulating electronic based
transactions.
• Copyright Right and Neighbouring Rights Act (CRNR). The CRNR Act restricts
the reproduction or dissemination of copyright material on the internet
without the exclusive approval of the copyright owner (s20). Broadcasting
on the internet is prohibited (s21). The ability for the tribunals under the
CRNR Act and courts to enforce these provisions and the copyright owners is
very limited.
Non-Legal and Voluntary
• Zimbabwe Association of Internet Service Providers
With a membership of about 28 as of 2013, ZISPA is the private sector
association of ISPs in Zimbabwe. The Ministry of Information Communication
Technology, Postal and Courier Services regulate internet use in Zimbabwe
through POTRAZ. Internet Service Providers in Zimbabwe are organized
under an independent and voluntary association named Zimbabwe Internet
Service Providers Association (ZISPA)
•Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) is a voluntary organisation that has
recognition in statute through the Consumer Contracts Act, which
recommends the relevant minister to consult on regulations and reforms.
The CCZ will require some level of statutory powers including formation of
Consumer Protection Commission under a revised consumer protection law.
•Zimbabwe Internet Governance Forum
Zimbabwe Internet Governance Forum (ZIGF), was established through a
consultative workshop with stakeholders. The workshop established a
fifteen-member interim vCoordinating Team (MCT) comprising of three (3)
members nominated from five (5) clusters, being, Government, Technical
(service providers), Academic, Private Sector, and Civil Society. POTRAZ shall
continue to provide Secretariat services until ZIGF is full established.
Companies that disclose Government Requests
• AOL, AT&Tapple, Cheezburger, Cloudflar Comcast, Credo Mobile
• CyberGhost, DaumKakao, Deutsche Teleekom, Dropbox
• Facebook, Hong Kong Transparency Report, Kickstarter
• Korea Internet Transparency Report, LeaseWeb
• LinkedIn, Lookout, Microsoft, Pinterest, Rogers, SaskTel, Snapchat
• Sonic.net, SpiderOak, TELUS, TekSavvy, TeliaSonera, Telstra
• Time Warner Cable, Tumblr, Twitter, University of California, Berkeley,

024

www.misazim.com

@misazimbabwe

MISA Zimbabwe

Select target paragraph3