Investigating the relevance of the introduction of the Cybercrime and Cybersecurity Bill, 2017 in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study investigates whether the Cybercrime and Cybersecurity Bill of 2017, is needed in Zimbabwe. The bill is yet to be enacted into law and it is still waiting for the President’s signature. The study seeks to find out the different contestations surrounding the bill and to highlight some major concerns in as far as cybercrimes and cybersecurity are concerned in Zimbabwe. Law enforcing agents, internet users and news articles were used as the research population in a bid to hear the views of some sections of the society. Owing to the qualitative nature of the research, the researcher employs non-probability sampling, specifically purposive sampling to single out representative samples of the study. Data collected is analysed using the Critical Discourse Analysis and it is presented thematically. The findings reveal that the bill is very relevant and is urgently needed in Zimbabwe but there has to be amendments to be made first to make sure that the bill does not contradict with the constitution in terms of freedom of expression and the right to privacy.