Across Africa, new battlefields for free speech take shape on social media
| Harare, Zimbabwe and Johannesburg, South Africa
Earlier this month, Zimbabwe鈥檚 president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was out on the campaign trail when his arithmetic skills suddenly failed him.
鈥淚f you add four calves to the 10 cattle you already have, ,鈥� he pledged to a group of rural farmers, discussing a government assistance program.
Soon, the clip of the president鈥檚 bad math had gone viral, and Zimbabweans were taking to social media to rib Mr. Mnangagwa for his error.
Why We Wrote This
Governments are increasingly aware 鈥� and often wary 鈥� of the power of social media. But so are citizens and activists, and across Africa, many are pushing back against online restrictions.
鈥�10 + 4 = ? When you can get that one, we鈥檒l make you a village head,鈥� at the president.
鈥淐annot add 10 + 4 鈥� this one needs a walking stick,鈥� .
The jabs were harmless enough, but until recently, they would have been nearly unthinkable. Like many African governments, the regime of Mnangagwa鈥檚 predecessor, Robert Mugabe, was notoriously thin-skinned about social media criticism. Indeed, only two weeks before Mr. Mugabe was deposed in a coup last November, his government working in Zimbabwe for allegedly tweeting that the country was being run by a 鈥渟ick and selfish man.鈥�
For now, the temperature seems to have changed.听鈥淚t鈥檚 better to let people vent instead of bottling up and then explode in anger, and social media also circumvents red tape and promotes direct communication with the people,鈥� says Supa Mandiwanzira, the minister of Information Communication Technology and Cyber Security.
But if Zimbabwe鈥檚 webspace has changed since the days of Mugabe,听it also contrasts with many other African countries today. Governments are recognizing the power of social media 鈥� and imposing restrictions accordingly.听Across the continent, activists are increasingly viewing clampdowns on social media as a kind of early warning system for broader attempts to muzzle freedom of expression.
鈥淎round the region, you鈥檙e seeing people realize that the clamping down of online spaces is not something that they can just sit and watch,鈥� says Joan Nyanyuki, Amnesty International鈥檚 director for East Africa, the Horn, and the Great Lakes regions. 鈥淭hey see that protecting freedom of expression is one of the key ways to safeguard against other human rights violations. It鈥檚 really a way that governments can be held to account by ordinary people.鈥�
New restraints, new pushback
Governments have increasingly targeted social media as a way to bring unruly dissenters to heel. In Tanzania, for instance, a recently introduced law slaps a registration fee of about $900 on bloggers and online forums. A 2016 law in Rwanda makes it illegal to use a digital device to cause 鈥渁nnoyance, inconvenience, or needless anxiety,鈥� and Egypt鈥檚 government recently announced a law allowing it to block any social media users with more than 5,000 followers if they disseminate 鈥渇ake news.鈥�
In Uganda, activists took to the streets to protest a new tax on social media applications that went into effect this month. The law slaps a 200-shilling (5 US cents) daily charge on anyone who wants to use applications like WhatsApp, Twitter, or Facebook 鈥� a fee the government says will raise much-needed revenue for state coffers.
A group of lawyers, meanwhile, recently lodged a legal challenge to the charge, which they argue inhibits Ugandans 鈥� particularly poor Ugandans 鈥� from accessing and sharing information freely.
鈥淔reedom online holds so much potential to change our society 鈥� to expose people to new ideas and connect them to the world,鈥� says Baguma Moses, co-director of the Cyber Law Initiative, which brought the challenge at Uganda鈥檚 Constitutional Court. 鈥淪o we as Ugandans aren鈥檛 willing to let this thing pass into our lives without a fight.鈥�
Zimbabwe鈥檚 seeming shift
In Zimbabwe, the new government has attempted to show its openness to social media as a way of visibly distancing itself from the autocratic regime of Mugabe, whose iron grip on dissent resulted in broad sanctions against the country that sent Zimbabwe鈥檚 economy tanking. Mnangagwa has verified his Twitter account, opened a Facebook page, and set up a 鈥渂roadcast list鈥� on WhatsApp to send messages to his supporters.
鈥淭he government recognizes that while a tiny minority of individuals and organizations abuse social media by spreading hate speech or information and messages that cause alarm and despondency, the majority of users are law-abiding citizens,鈥� says Mr. Mandiwanzira.
The irony of that message is not lost on Zimbabweans. In 2013, when Mnangagwa was the country鈥檚 justice minister, he himself that outlawed mocking the president on social media and elsewhere, writing in a court affidavit that it was necessary to stop a 鈥渂reach of public order and public safety鈥� and arguing the president鈥檚 authority 鈥渕ay be diminished if the head is savaged falsely.鈥�
And less than two years ago, Mugabe鈥檚 government 鈥� in which Mnangagwa was then vice president 鈥� shut off popular social media applications multiple times in an attempt to stifle a protest movement organized largely by WhatsApp and under Twitter hashtags like #Tajamuka (鈥淲e have had enough鈥�).
But Mnangagwa鈥檚 position on social media seemed to change abruptly in November 2017, when he was suddenly fired as vice president and his own supporters began to use WhatsApp and other online services to mobilize Zimbabweans to march and demand the president鈥檚 resignation. (Some 5.2 million Zimbabweans , or about one-third of the country鈥檚 population.)
A few days after the protests began, Mugabe stepped down, and Mnangagwa was sworn in as president. And a few days after that, Mnangagwa posted at the inauguration on his Twitter feed with the tongue-in-cheek hashtag, #NewProfilePic.
鈥淭here was a lot of self-censorship [on social media before], that fear in the background, but the coup changed all that,鈥� says Ranga Mberi, a Zimbabwean blogger with a large Twitter following.
Analysts say social media has also become an important way for the new government to demonstrate it鈥檚 serious about holding open and fair elections, which are scheduled to take place July 30.
鈥淭he government is preaching peace and tolerance, and want to prove they can win an election without violence so they are making the right noises,鈥� says David Coltart, a former government minister and opposition politician.
The new government has also slackened its grip on traditional media, which have been given more leeway to critique the president and his government in this election cycle, analysts say. But media watchers point out there is , particularly after the Zimbabwe Defence Force鈥檚 director of public relations recently warned several journalists to desist with their 鈥渂ad and mischievous reporting,鈥� and following physical attacks on journalists by supporters of both major political parties in recent weeks.
'It keeps them silent鈥�
In Uganda, meanwhile, President Yoweri Museveni met last Thursday with members of Parliament from his party to discuss the social-media tax.
Their verdict: It would stand.
But organizations both local and national said they would continue to fight the tax.
鈥淚f people, particularly low-income people, can no longer express themselves, it makes them more vulnerable to other abuses of their rights,鈥� says Ms. Nyanyuki of Amnesty. 鈥淚t keeps them silent, and we don鈥檛 want that.鈥�
