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Prosper Ndlovu
THE abuse of social media platforms to spread fake news will soon be a thing of the past as Government is finalising the crafting of a new cyber crime law to deal with such perpetrators, a Cabinet Minister has said.
The proposed law, will among other things, compel internet service providers to disclose the source of any content that is considered cyber crime, while courts will be expected to accept electronic evidence when culprits are arraigned before them.
Recent fake news reports such as alleged currency policy changes by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, subversive messages, insults as well as fake army and police recruitment messages, have caused anxiety in society.
In an interview in Gwanda on Thursday, Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister, Supa Mandiwanzira, said many people were falling victim to fake news peddlers and warned the new law would bring such culprits to book.
“How many times are we hearing fake news about the army and the police recruiting when they are actually not recruiting. We have people desperate for jobs waking up early, walking long distances and spending the little money they have going to points reported about in fake news,” said the minister.
He said his ministry has made tremendous progress in crafting the Cyber Crime Bill, which “is now being finalised”. To that end, the minister revealed that a team of experts has been hired from the University of Zimbabwe and from the legal fraternity to help in putting in place a fine draft taking into account global best practise.
“We have seen new laws coming from Europe, Germany for instance, laws that are dealing with fake news for instance. These are realities not just in Europe but also in Zimbabwe.
“We need to be able to deal with that. So the team is finalising the Bill, which we will then take to the Attorney General’s Office, Cabinet and then Parliament. So I am very confident that within the next few weeks we should be taking this document to Parliament,” said Minister Mandiwanzira.
Online Reporter