It’s all fun and games when you watch it happen in other countries but when it glances in your country’s direction, you shudder in fear.
I saw these comments by Minister of Information, Jenfan Muswere and I don’t like them one bit.
He is quoted by Newsday as saying,
I don’t like hate speech, hate speech does not contribute to nation-building… Have you ever heard President Emmerson Mnangagwa preaching hate speech, he is a man of unity.
It sounds all innocent and noble but this idea of hate speech is dangerous. Not because hate speech, however you define it, doesn’t exist. Oh no, it exists.
The problem is that it is rather subjective. The art of determining what hate speech is that, an art, and not science.
Hate speech in other countries
In the West, we have seen any objection, any calls for clarification on what’s being called ‘gender ideology’ labeled as hate speech. Thereby ending the discussion right there and then.
Not everyone agrees that the question of whether transwomen (biological men) should compete in women’s sports but dialogue is hard when even seeking it is considered hate speech by some. Actually, some will say putting ‘biological men’ in brackets is hate speech.
That’s why this idea of hate speech sounds good on paper but in practice, it is used to stifle dialogue.
In some countries, hate speech laws have been used to silence opposition leaders or journalists critical of the government.
For example, in the UK, a number of cases have involved individuals arrested for tweets or comments deemed offensive, though they were arguably part of legitimate discourse.
In India, hate speech laws have been invoked to arrest critics of the government or religious practices.
Free speech in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe protects free speech to some extent under Section 61 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013), which guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of the media.
However, these protections do not extend to hate speech (that which incites violence, hate, or discrimination) or malicious falsehoods.
In addition, restrictions may apply to speech deemed to threaten national security, public morality, or public order.
In practice, the government of Zimbabwe does not have a good track record.
Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act has been used to arrest individuals accused of insulting the president or government officials.
Though we are yet to see it used nefariously, the Cyber and Data Protection Act (2021) criminalizes online speech deemed “offensive” or harmful, which is too broad and could suppress dissent.
Journalists have been harassed, arrested, or censored for reporting on sensitive political issues.
There have been instances of social media shutdowns or surveillance, especially during protests or elections.
Why the Minister’s remarks disturb me
So, yeah, it kind of rings alarm bells when the Minister of Information says he doesn’t like hate speech.
The above shows a pattern of using public interest as a cover for suppressing free speech. Now, adding “hate speech” into the mix gives the government another tool to silence voices it doesn’t want to hear.
We do not have context as to what he was referring to but I’m almost positive that many, if not most of us would not consider it hate speech too.
Let’s hope it was just a comment in passing and not the sign of a campaign to stop any and all government criticism under the guise of clamping down on hate speech.
If legitimate criticism of the government could be construed as hate speech then we’re in trouble.
I hate it when ministers comment on hate speech !!
Everybody come to office so we hash up a consensus on the criteria, parameters and boundary what constitutes a hate speech!
English, m*f*! Do you speak it?
But when Hopewell rants he is labelled as ” load mouthed “. Talk about double standards.
whats a LOAD MOUTH? loud mouth? maybe ?
All to often members of a certain political party say “Pasi na”. That is fully qualified hate speech. You can only wish death upon one you hate.
Well, they are allegedly planning another deathtime presidency by amending the constitution. They can’t have people saying they think on that, can they. It will also give them standing to demand identities/censorship from platforms that want to operate here. As anticipated.
Shamwari, hate speech is hate speech. Every country, culture, family, community knows its own hate speech. At govt level these issues do not end at individual level, even the president. All issues can be taken to court or parliament. See, there are three independent pillars of governance. The state ( president, cabinet, civil service etc), then the judiciary, and parliament. In a democracy these three provide checks and balances on what you are talking about.
“In a democracy”
“Independent pillars”
🤣 There’s your problem right there.
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