Zimbabwe:Mugabe creates new role of Minister of cyber security and threat detection as he gets more ‘worried’ about rise of social media

President Robert Mugabe has created and  appointed a minister of cyber security and threat detection as the country deals with the growth of social media and internet-based media groups.

Mugabe and his family have accused the media of spreading “fake news” while Patrick Chinamasa who has been given the new post warned last month that the government would treat social media as a security threat.

Chinamsa, a lawyer, would be responsible for introducing a cyber crimes bill to criminalise the posting of false information on the internet, revenge porn, cyber-bullying and online activity against the government.

Zimbabwe’s media laws are repressive, but the government has been struggling to regulate them because some of the media outlets are not based in the country.