Zimbabwe November 2017 arrested and charged with subversion and insulting the president through a tweet in which she allegedly called then president Mugabe a “sick man”. Martha’s arrest served as a warning on how closely state authorities were monitoring statements made through social media. She was charged under Section 33 (2) of the existing Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] which criminalised statements which undermined the authority of the president. During the same month, members of the Criminal Investigations Department raided the Magamba offices and confiscated desktops and laptops. O’Donovan spent seven days at Chikurubi Maximum Prison in Harare before being granted bail by the High Court. The offence carried a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment. If past trends were anything to go by, there was high probability that the proposed cyber crimes and cyber security laws would be selectively applied through various state institutions to persecute any dissenting voices in online spaces. Constitution’s Chapter 4 Bill of Rights as well as the findings and recommendations of the Information and Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI) report. The 666-page report released on 18 March 2015, recommended the repeal of laws such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act (CECA), Official Secrets Act (OSA) and Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act. Fundamentally, Zimbabwe should sign and ratify the ACDEG which promotes the consolidation of democratic governance and human rights in Africa through adoption of the Charter’s relevant clauses into domestic law and policies ahead of the 2018 elections This happened against the background of constitutional guarantees that citizens have the right to freely express themselves online and offline while the media has the right to truthfully report and inform the nation on events as they unfold without fear and undue hindrances. LOOKING FORWARD TO 2018 The government should urgently implement the long overdue media reforms by aligning restrictive laws such as AIPPA, BSA, POSA and sections of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (CODE) as provided for in terms of the So This is Democracy? 2017 147