Mugabe regime draws up list of blacklisted websites

By Lance Guma
10 August 2007

The weekly Zimbabwe Independent reports that the ruling Zanu PF party is planning to blacklist several websites including CNN, ZW News, Zimbabwe Situation, New Zimbabwe.com and others. The paper said a printout of 41 websites was tabled at a heated meeting of the Politburo who were discussing the media. At a recent anti-poverty summit in Malaysia Mugabe accused the media of bias and it seems this meeting was an attempt to step us his campaign against the media, after he claimed they were trying to effect regime change.

The paper reports that a download from forums hosted by ZimUpdate.com was presented at the meeting. The paper showed a reader giving seven reasons why he thought Mugabe didn’t want to step down. "Is it because he is afraid of being hanged just like Saddam (Hussein); or extradited just like Charles Taylor," the reader asks. "Is it because he is afraid that the party will disintegrate? Is it because he is intoxicated with power? It is because he does not trust anyone in Zanu?" The reader added that Mugabe was afraid of the Americans and the British.

The Zimbabwe Independent says Olivia Muchena the Zanu PF secretary for science and technology presented a report on the 26th July on the role and importance of information and communication technologies (ICT’s). "Contrary to the gun battles we are accustomed to, we now have cyber-warfares fought from one’s comfort zone, be it bedroom, office, swimming pool, etc but with deadly effects,’ Muchena is quoted as saying. Several of the websites listed however have nothing to do with Zimbabwe. One website dedicated to world peace is included on the list as is Amnesty International Canada. Others do not exist or have since been sold over to advertisers.

Robert Ndlovu, an IT and Communications expert, told Newsreel it was technically possible for Mugabe to block websites through the installation of filters by Internet Service Providers in Zimbabwe. The filters would then block any access to particular blacklisted websites, as is being done by the Chinese government. Ndlovu however said it was easy for Zimbabweans to bypass the filters using proxies that hide their actual IP numbers and enable then to surf the web using platforms in other countries. It was also possible to visit websites that are not blocked and in turn use them to visit those that are blocked.

Ndlovu urged Zimbabweans to use Instant Messaging services like MSN and Yahoo Messenger saying the regime could not read messages inside those platforms. Those snooping would actually need the user’s password he explained. Overall he said Mugabe’s government would need a huge amount of resources to spy on everyone, and this they clearly do not have. This is why analysts are saying the regime is relying more on the fear factor of ordinary citizens.