Constitution Watch 2/2019
Internet Shutdown
19 January 2019
CONSTITUTION WATCH 2/2019
[19th January 2019]
Internet Shutdown
In this bulletin we shall examine the legality of the Internet shut-downs against the
background of the Constitution, international law and the Interception of
Communications Act.
On the 15th January, the second day of a stay-away called by the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions, all Internet services across the country were switched off
under government instructions.
Econet, the country’s largest mobile
telecommunications operator and Internet service provider [ISP], issued the
following statement to its subscribers:
“Further to a warrant issued by the Minister of State in the President’s Office for
National Security through the Director-General of the President’s Department
acting in terms of the Interception of Communications Act, internet services are
currently suspended across all networks and internet service providers. We are
obliged to act when directed to do so and the matter is beyond our control.’’
Other ISPs issued similar messages.
Service was restored, then shut down for another day, and now has been restored
again, though most social media sites remained blocked.
The Constitutional Guarantee of Freedom of Expression
Section 61 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression which,
it says, includes:
“freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information”.
It is one of the most precious of all human rights because, together with freedom of
association, it forms the bedrock of democracy.
Freedom of expression is not absolute, however. Section 61 of the Constitution
itself says it does not extend to incitement to violence or to hate speech. And
section 86 goes on to say that a law may limit it and other freedoms so long as the
limitation is “fair, reasonable, necessary and justifiable in a democratic society
based on openness, justice, human dignity, equality and freedom.” In deciding
whether a limitation meets this test, one must consider, among other things, whether
the limitation imposes greater restrictions on the freedom than are necessary, and
whether the limitation’s objective may be achieved by less restrictive means [section
86(2) of the Constitution].
International Law
The Constitution must be interpreted in the light of international law.
expression is recognised internationally as a fundamental human right,
both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 19).
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in art 1.1
Declaration (2002), goes so far as to declare:
Freedom of
protected by
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