Mugabe introduces new curbs on internet

Robert Mugabe was yesterday accused of attempting to censor Zimbabwe's email traffic after his government ordered service providers to stop any correspondence that the regime deemed "malicious".

A new contract, which must be signed for the companies to have access to telephone lines, states that the "use of the network for anti-national activities" will be regarded as "an offence punishable under Zimbabwe law".

The service providers have been told to promptly report the senders of offensive messages to the government.

The firms regard this as an impossible task.

This is the second time Mr Mugabe's government has tried vet the free flow of information on the internet. Two years ago parliament passed a telecommunications act which required all internet service providers to allow state agents to monitor the email correspondence of any subscriber.

The law also forbade the service providers from informing clients that their emails were being read by state officials.

However, in March this year the supreme court ruled that those clauses of the telecommunications law were unconstitutional.

"The government was frustrated by the supreme court judgment, but not prepared to give up," said a newspaper executive.

"Now they are attempting to smuggle those same clauses in under the guise of a new contract. It is typical of the Mugabe government, particularly the minister of information, Jonathan Moyo, to trample on individual rights to curtail freedom of the press."

The Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association (Zispa) said it has asked the government to clarify its requirements in the new contracts.

"It's impossible," said one internet server. "It is just not feasible to expect us to look at each and every email message that passes through our system. The volume of traffic makes that impossible. And how would we be able to judge what the government finds objectionable? It would make us the internet police instead of the internet providers."

The new contract calls on servers to turn in to government officials the details of subscribers sending messages that contain anything from obscenity to anti-government activities.

"It's ludicrous to think we can operate on that scale. I just don't think this was carefully thought out before they sent it out," said the head of one of Zimbabwe's service providers. He said he hoped negotiations with the government would sort out the problems. "If talks do not succeed, I am prepared to close down before I agree to spy on my clients," he said.

The internet is one of the few communications channels left in Zimbabwe that individuals and groups opposed to Mr Mugabe's government can use to spread their opinions.

The government controls all radio and television broadcasts and all daily newspapers.

It has already closed the country's most popular daily newspaper, arresting 75 journalists and editors in the process. A handful of privately-owned weekly newspapers are under considerable pressure.

Several anti-government newsletters circulate widely through Zimbabwe on the internet. But in November, 14 people were arrested for circulating an email calling for protests to oust Mr Mugabe.

Zimbabwe is second only to South Africa in Africa in the development of its internet and email networks, with 12 large-scale internet service providers. It is estimated to have more than 100,000 registered users.

Mr Mugabe's attitude to the internet was reflected in a speech he made to a UN telecommunications conference in Rome, when he described the internet as a tool used by "a few countries ... in quest of global dominance and hegemony".