Zimbabwe’s telecommunications regulatory body has banned bulk messaging service for Information and media project Kubatana.net
Kubatana, which uses various media tools to enable Zimbabweans to access and share information, discovered that they had been blocked Wednesday, when text messages kept bouncing back.
Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) had issued the directive to block the messages.
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Speaking to SW Radio Africa, Amanda Atwood, the project’s content manager said: “On Wednesday when we noticed that our messages were not going through we contacted our international carrier who told us that our upstream (local) carrier Econet, was blocking us as a sender.
“We have been sending out bulk text messages to thousands of our opt-in subscribers for several years now without any problems.
“When I phoned Econet, someone in the business development unit said they had received a directive from their regulator POTRAZ to block all bulk messages coming from international gateways. Econet said we were being blocked for political reasons,” said Atwood.
Many see the timing of the ban as an attempt by the ZANU PF controlled regulator to censor the kind of information Zimbabweans receive during this crucial period.
Kubatana said they will be approaching the Communications Ministry over the ban, which they described as “unconstitutional, obstructive, repressive and hostile.
“It is our opinion that as we approach the July poll the Zimbabwean authorities are increasing their control of the media, making the conditions for this election unfree and unfair,” Kubatana further stated.
Media watchdog Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) issued a statement Friday, expressing concern at what it described as an ‘arbitrary’ move by POTRAZ.
“MISA expresses concern about this alleged arbitrary move by POTRAZ which it deems retrogressive in light of the provisions of the new constitution which clearly states that every person has the right to freedom of expression which includes ‘freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and information’.
“MISA-Zimbabwe is further concerned by the timing of this alleged ‘ban’ when the country is going through this critical transition phase which in itself needs diverse avenues for access to information and calls upon POTRAZ to reconsider the move,” the statement stated.
On a number of occasions the government has tried to block or jam any messages perceived as hostile towards ZANU PF. In 2009, mobile phone network operators were directed to warn their subscribers not to disseminate political messages. This followed the mass circulation of text messages castigating ZANU-PF during the party’s congress in December that year.
Source: swradioafrica.com
