ABSTRACT
Research on Internet shutdowns on the African continent is scant. This is surprising given that incidences of Internet shutdowns in their different guises are increasing. In Zimbabwe, the state institutes Internet shutdowns under the guise of “protecting national security interests” and “curbing misinformation”, thus bringing to a standstill lives of citizens who rely on the Internet for information alternative to state propaganda. Grounded on the concept of “digital rights”, this qualitative exploratory examines citizen experiences of Internet shutdowns in Zimbabwe to shed insights into how citizens are affected by Internet shutdowns in a politically fragile African state. Meanings that citizens attach to Internet shutdowns, constructions of their enforcement mechanisms, motives and timing, and their effects on everyday lives of citizens are examined in this chapter. Data was gathered using virtual interviews and an open-ended electronic questionnaire emailed to 23 purposively selected Zimbabwean citizens who had experienced an Internet shutdown in the country. Among them were ordinary citizens, journalists, experts and civil society activists. The chapter reveals that Zimbabwean citizens predominantly perceive Internet shutdowns as a blunt political instrument and an extension of the broader censorship strategies aimed at regime preservation but masked as legitimate national state security interests. Internet shutdowns in Zimbabwe, thus, reflect contours of the predatory instincts of a weak state in an age of growing consciousness of citizens’ digital rights.
