By Staff reporter

Bulawayo City Mayor, Councillor Solomon Mguni has urged government to fast-tract the enactment of the Cybercrime and Cyber Security Act so as to curb the abuse of internet by irresponsible citizens.

Cllr Mguni said this at the on-going Zimbabwe New Media Summit being held at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo.

The Summit, running under the theme, ‘New Media and Democracy: Beyond Fake News, Disinformation and Misinformation,’ was organised by Zimbabwe Centre for Media and Information Literacy (ZCMIL) and funded by Konrad-Adenaurer Stiftung (KAS) and the US Embassy.

Cllr Mguni thanked ZCMIL for coming up with the summit. He urged citizens to desist from abusing social media and technology by communicating wrong and misleading information which is against the doctrines of democracy.

ZCMIL Communication Officer, Lenox Mhlanga said that the 2019 Summit would educate people on the impact of generating and spreading misleading information. He said the situation had been exacerbated by the fact that almost everyone had become a journalist through the use of cellphones.

 He informed that the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) was being replaced by Freedom of Information Bill to protect freedom of citizens.

US Embassy representative, Omay Berry warned that the passing of fake news was a threat to democracy. She revealed that she had facilitated exchange programmes for journalists to study journalism at the Harvard University in the US.