Zimbabwe
Republic Police and the Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority. All Internet Service Providers (ISPs), freight forwarders, courier companies, postal and telephone service providers
and any providers of any medium that facilitates communication
need to put in place systems to monitor and record all information
that passes through their system at their own expense. E-mails
for example will be monitored, automatically identifying sensitive
phrases and thus stopping the message from being forwarded to the
recipient. There is no legal obligation to inform the person under
surveillance.
The response to the Bill so far has been largely mute. MISA issued
a press release; Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights organised a
public discussion, The Independent reported on it– without any public reaction. One of the reasons for this silence might be that “ZANU
(PF) is very good at keeping us (civil society) busy and we are getting tired”. The service providers themselves feel they should not
do anything about the Bill for fear of creating an impression that
“they have something to hide”. They are thus “willing” to comply
with the law.
On-line newspapers:
There are a number of on-line newspapers run by Zimbabweans in
the Diaspora, including ZimOnline, Zimdaily and NewZimbabwe.
com. They are popular with and useful for the part of the population that has access to internet.
Satellite stations:
DSTV is available for subscription but only against payment in foreign currency. South African TV channels are accessible through free
to air satellite receivers.

14

African Media Barometer - Zimbabwe 2006

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