By Takura Zhangazha*

I will begin with an anecdote.  A couple of weeks ago the royalty of Zimbabwean political
Twitter had a decent enough rage against Econet Wireless Zimbabwe founder (and
now also a multi-media mogul) Strive Masiyiwa over what appeared to be his own personal
political persuasions.  He had decided to
talk back, via social media, to those who were and still are criticizing his
alleged role in assisting to prop up the global image of the Mnangagwa
government vis-à-vis the sanctions on Zimbabwe debate. A friend noted the
slight irony as the ‘twar’ (twitter war) ensued between those that supported
Masiyiwa’s stance and those that derided it. 
All for very political and business-centered reasons. 

The anecdotal point was when he highlighted with an
ironic chuckle the probable fact that a majority of those that were either criticizing
or supporting Masiyiwa were probably accessing social media via Econet
Wireless, ZOL or Liquid fibre-optic company. 
All of which are majority share-owned by Masiyiwa.  At least in Zimbabwe.  And this is where the anecdotal/ironic evidence
ends.

There was to be a more serious event of urban protests and a
mass work stay-away in mid January 2019, the effects of which we will still
feel for a while yet as Zimbabweans. Ostensibly over abrupt fuel price increases, as personally
announced by Mnangagwa.  The violence
that ensued particularly and was popularly perceived as being the state
against civilians led to what now appears to be a common habit of a number of global
governments under some sort of political siege.

Zimbabwe’s government implemented
an undemocratic internet (including social media) shutdown. 

Enabled by the minister in the president’s office for state
security (Owen Ncube), confirmed by short message service (sms) by Masiyiwa’s most
popularly used Econet mobile phone network and eventually to be successfully challenged
in court by media freedom organization MISA Zimbabwe, this was information
shock therapy for many an urban(e) Zimbabwean. 

As in 2016 when the nationally increasingly popular WhatsApp
social media platform gained credence, Zimbabweans had come to rely on it for
immediate information.  And more significantly
a reliance that was mediated by their (increasing in number) smart(er) mobile
phones.  Combined with access to social
media. 

It was in this particular national instance that the ‘medium’
became the ‘message’.  

I know that this
sounds somewhat sophisticated or convoluted. 
But this is as learnt from Marshal Mcluhan. 

And this is what happened again from 14-21 January 2019 in
Zimbabwe.  The medium quite literally became
the message.  How Zimbabweans got
information determined their behavior. 
Hence the government sought to undemocratically cut off the internet
link the country has with the global world. 
And as controlled by corporate superpowers that control both the medium
(technology) and mediate its message(ing). 
Ditto WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Econet, Huawei, Samsung and in our national
context, a little bit of Apple.

 All in combination and to maximum possible
effect.  

As long as the medium (your
phone and its access to the internet) was able to land everyday political events into your palm.  Even if you were and are in what traditionally
has been a private place. 

Mobile telephony has become a primary source of information for
many Zimbabweans. Both politically and apolitically. 

I would hazard to add that it has become more
than a monetary currency.  One that would
be individualistic in ownership and associational in mutual benefit.  The more information you have, the more
likely you are to share it and the greater the sharing the more likely you re
to act on the information received or imparted. 
Individually or collectively. 

The medium has therefore come to be the determinant of specific
behavior.  It has replaced the usual
church meeting with a virtual experience. The latter being a combination of
both the medium and the message (have smart phone, do a prayer post).  So long it meets two specific requirements,
personal gratification and by individuated default, collective catharsis. All
as mediated by your mobile phone and its access to, specifically, social media.

The reasons why many of us in Zimbabwe have come to this
space of perception of the combined fundamental importance of social media and
mobile telephony is that we have been long deprived of balanced and accurate nodes
of accessing of information that we have deemed to be publicly important. 

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation has remained a state
and nationally partisan broadcaster while simultaneously the private media has
countered the former’s news narrative in default favour of the mainstream
political opposition. 

In such a news partisan media environment, social media (the
message) and the mobile phone as it impacts the individual was always going to
rise in political and national consciousness significance.

And in this, again, the medium as the message has significantly
helped to put a light on the tragic circumstances in which lives were
tragically lost and brought the same to global mainstream media attention.

But back to my initial and only anecdote in this blog.  The mobile telephony operators and owners of
fibre optic cables (those that own the medium) that connect Zimbabwe to the
rest of the world cannot claim a Pontius Pilate moment on Zimbabwe’s recent internet
shutdown.  Be it as globally high up as
with Huawei, Samsung, Apple (and others) or locally as with Telecel, Netone or
Econet.   Nor should those that are in control of content
and attendant algorithms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter do the same. 

We will always require a combination of the ‘real’ and the ‘virtual’
to come to a publicly-democratic accountable way forward to move Zimbabwe to a
better social democratic space.  And we
need to heed the warning that while the medium may be the message, the oxymoron
is not enough to help us cross the flooded and tragic river. 

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
(takura.zhangazha-blogspot.com)