Zimbabwe Named an Enemy of the Internet

In a report released this week, the RSF said Zimbabwe had been added on to the list of enemies of the internet as internet users in the southern African country were being kept under constant surveillance by state security agents. Our list of internet enemies’ has also been updated with the addition of two countries – Ethiopia and Zimbabwe . . . This is not at all surprising as these regimes regularly hound the traditional media, said the RSF. President Robert Mugabe’s government has had a frosty relationship with the media over the past eight years banning four privately owned newspapers and arresting scores of independent journalists who it has often branded enemies of the state out to effect regime change in the country. The Harare administration – battling to keep a lead on dissension in the face of worsening economic hardships – last year passed an Interception of Communications Act that allows state security agents to intercept and monitor private communications between individual citizens or organizations. Media and human rights groups condemned the law saying it was a violation of Zimbabweans’ right to freedom of expression. The government however defended the new law saying it was necessary to protect national security. RSF said while Internet penetration in Zimbabwe was still low, it was enough to give the government a few nightmares forcing the government to draw on the full arsenal of online censorship methods including legislation, monitoring Internet cafés and controlling ISPs.Besides Zimbabwe, the other 14 countries deemed as enemies of the internet are: Ethiopia, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.