Zimbabwe’s minister of Information Communication Technology Postal and Courier Services, Tatenda Mavetera has dismissed as fake, claims that WhatsApp Group Administrators will be licenced.
Her response came after an uproar over the Statutory Instrument (SI) 155 of the 2024 Cyber and Data Protection (Licencing of Data controllers and Appointment of Data Protection Officers) Regulations which was instituted a few days ago.
Despite her response, some sections are criticising her for failure to articulate the issue at hand.
In a statement on her X account, Minister Mavetera said:
“False claim of USD 2500 penalties for WhatsApp Group Administrators.
“I would like to distance myself from the malicious fake news of intentions by the government to licence or penalise WhatsApp Groups or Administrators of any social media platform/s USD 2500.
“This claim is not applicable, especially to players who do not collect and process Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for commercial or business use.
“Personally identifiable information (PII) is any type of data that can be used to identify someone, from their name and address to their phone number, passport information and I.D. number.
“The public is encouraged to disregard this notice with the uttermost discontent it deserves as it is inconsistent with our legal provisions as espoused in Statutory Instrument (SI) 155 of the 2024 Cyber and Data Protection (Licencing of Data controllers and Appointment of Data Protection Officers) Regulations,” she said.
She also dismissed a post on her LinkedIn account.
“On my LinkedIn post, I never expressed any intentions to licence or penalise WhatsApp groups or Administrators of any social media platform/s which do not collect and process (Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for commercial or business use.
“I wish to assure the public of the government’s commitment through the Ministry of Information Communication Technology Postal and Courier Services to accelerate cyber and data democratisation and security to ensure that No One and No Place is Left Offline.
“This is in line with our overarching mandate to the constitution to promote access to information for all in a safe and secure environment.”
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