OPINION : CONVERTING TWEETS INTO FEET
Twitter network by 10,000 followers in the past month alone . The ruling ZANU-PF responded to this upswell by drafting new legislation , the Computer Crime and Cyber Crime Bill , to control online activism . But it might find it difficult to keep track of services such as WhatsApp , which now operate with end-to-end encryption making them very hard to keep track of .
Social protest
Protests coordinated on social media have emerged in recent weeks throughout the country addressing issues from socio-economic governance , to the introduction of bond notes ( a cash substitute in the country which no longer has its own currency ), corruption , and frustration by graduates at a lack of employment opportunities . When groups do mobilise on Zimbabwe ’ s streets , protests have increasingly been challenged by riot police using tear gas and water cannons .
These protests are different from previous efforts to challenge the government ’ s record in Zimbabwe . Social media mobilisation is more fluid and dynamic than traditional protests , such as trade union strikes , that tend to require the building of solidarity and a common position among workers in an industry . Previous anti-regime protests , such as those by the Movement for Democratic Change , have a traditional leader and grassroots form . It has been easy for the regime to identify and pick off individual leaders such as the opposition figure Morgan Tsvangirai before the 2008 election , leaving movements temporarily rudderless .
The leaderless , issue-driven format of social media protest is different . It works best when organised and executed quickly , and when responding to a crisis . This fluidity makes it difficult for the state to track , but it can also pose difficulties for the social movements , which can quickly lose momentum as activists lose motivation . The strength of new movements can become their downfall if not managed well .
Legal clampdown
Growth of social media has happened in a political environment that has become more and more hostile . On August 5 , all mobile phone operatorssuspended data promotions meaning that internet access became significantly more expensive in Zimbabwe .
Two days later the government announced draft legislation to address so-called cyber-terrorism . The draft law contains provisions that deal with the use of digital platforms to incite violence and to cause civil unrest that could undermine future mobilisation .
Although mobile operators have offered little explanation about why data promotions suddenly stopped , the near-simultaneous introduction of cybercrime legislation smacks of state attempts to curtail freedom of expression .
All this feels familiar . In previous periods of anti-government mobilisation and during elections , ZANU-PF successfully used both state-sponsored violence in combination with legislative tools to quell public protest . In the early 2000s , the government introduced legislation aimed at restricting mobilisation , including the 2003 Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act to control the press , and the Public Order and 2002 Security Act to monitor and break up public meetings . These tools routinely undermine human rights including freedom of expression and assembly .
In 2012 , the government charged six people with treason for organising and attending a lecture to learn lessons from the Arab Spring . Although the charges were later dropped , it is clear that ZANU-PF is sensitive to the impact that free expression could have on the stability of the regime . The state of ZANU-PF
ZANU-PF faces this upsurge of mobilisation in the midst of a party crisis . Mugabe is 92-years-old and his party is beset by factionalism with rivals vying for position as his successor . A diverse political opposition is developing , formally rooted in ZANU-PF itself . The former vice president , Joice Mujuru , recently launched Zimbabwe People First partyto challenge ZANU-PF in the upcoming 2018 elections .
In late July , a group of war veterans from Zimbabwe ’ s liberation struggle , historically a core support base for ZANU-PF , condemned Mugabe ’ s running of the country . ZANU-PF ’ s current structure lacks the organisational stability to effectively manage such dynamic threats to the regime . This situation could bode well for the demise of authoritarianism in Zimbabwe . A majority of the population , around two-thirds , are now “ born frees ” – Zimbabweans with no memory of the liberation struggle before 1980 . Even though the regime regularly uses rhetoric that plays on ZANU-PF ’ s part in the liberation victory to maintain support , this strategy is losing ground , shown by the groundswell of on and offline protest among Zimbabwe ’ s disaffected youth . Nonetheless , Mugabe has successfully mobilised ZANU-PF youth league members to counter anti-government protests .
The coming months hold enormous potential for political change in Zimbabwe . ZANU-PF ’ s hold on power is tenuous and both physical and digital repression may not be enough to quell the tide of discontent rocking the regime . Instead , the power of social media may be an effective tool to undermine the already cracked foundations of ZANU-PF and contribute to the development of a more democratic political framework in Zimbabwe .
2016 | Business Times Africa 17