Media Reforms
Cybersecurity and Data Protection
Bill
MISA Zimbabwe convened capacity building
and engagement meetings on the Cybersecurity
and Data Protection Bill with policy makers,
and members of the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committees on Information, Media and
Broadcasting Services and that of Information
Communication Technology. A multistakeholder
meeting was also convened on the same issue
and was also attended by the Deputy Minister of
Information, Communication Technology Postal
and Courier Services, Honourable Dingimuzi Phuti,
as well as other stakeholders from the Postal
and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), civil society, media and
the telecommunications industry.
For instance, Section 164 criminalises the sending
of messages to any person, group or the public,
with the intention to incite violence or damage
to property. This was widely criticised by MISA
Zimbabwe as an attempt to smuggle back criminal
defamation which was struck off the statutes by
the Constitutional Court.
Among its other contentious provisions, is the
proposed use of forensic tools such as the key
stroke logger without being clear on how and
under what circumstances the method would be
applied, as well as the Bill’s failure to provide for
judicial oversight or other accountability measures
for monitoring and reviewing the potential abuse
of the use of such intrusive technologies.
MISA Zimbabwe also conducted countrywide
meetings which were aimed at unpacking the
Cybersecurity and Data Protection Bill prior to
the public hearings on the proposed law.

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