Zimbabwe’s
brutal
regime,
under
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa,
is
using
social
media,
particularly
X,
to
smear
and
silence
mostly
female
anti-government
political
activists
and
human
rights
defenders
in
the
country.
President
Mnangagwa’s
army
of
paid
pro-government
social
media
trolls
is
known
as
the Varakashi —propaganda
stormtroopers—with
some
using
names
of
prominent
people
to
open
fake
X
accounts
without
their
knowledge.
One
ghost X
account
uses the
name
of
Zimbabwe’s
former
vice
president,
Joice
Mujuru.
Even
President
Mnangagwa’s
spokesperson,
George
Charamba—who
is
also
a
senior
government
employee
—runs
two
toxic
ghost
X
accounts—@Jamwanda2 and @dhonzamusoro007—which
he
uses
to
attack
and
post
completely
fabricated
and
malicious
information
about
female
human
rights
defenders
and
political
activists
in
Zimbabwe.
The
first
of
these
accounts
was suspended
in
2022 but
was
reinstated
after
Elon
Musk
acquired
Twitter
and
renamed
it
X.
In
the
past
year
there
has
been
a
proliferation
of
toxic
X
accounts
in
the
country
and
they
are
flourishing.
At
times,
these
X
accounts
incite
physical
and
sexual
violence
against
female
political
and
human
rights
activists.
In
one
post,
a
ghost
X
account
threatened
a
prominent
human
rights
activist
that
“[I’m]
waiting
to
rape
you.”
The
post
drew
outrage
from
X
users,
and
it
was
later
deleted.
And
in
a study
published
in
2023,
Constance
Kasiyamhuru
from
the
University
of
Johannesburg
in
South
Africa
said
the
Varakashi
in
Zimbabwe
operate
mostly
on
Twitter/X
to
“shut
down”
the
political
opponents
of
the
governing
Zanu
PF
party.
“Through
trolling,
name-calling,
threats,
mocking,
mobbing,
labelling,
ridicule,
casting
aspersions,
delegitimation,
disinforming,
and
other
strategies,
Varakashi
seek
to
regulate,
censure,
and
‘discipline’
anti-musangano [anti-ruling
party]
online
discourse,”
Kasiyamhuru
wrote.
Tendai
Ruben
Mbofana,
a
Zimbabwe
based
social
justice
advocate
and
writer,
said
the
systematic
deployment
of
online
trolls—particularly
targeting
female
human
rights
defenders
and
political
activists—has
become
a
chilling
hallmark
of
repression
in
Zimbabwe.
“These
smear
campaigns
are
not
just
personal
attacks;
they
are
part
of
a
broader
strategy
to
delegitimise
our
work,
intimidate
us
into
silence,
and
discredit
our
credibility
in
the
eyes
of
the
public,”
Mbofana
said.
He
added
that
the
abuse
often
takes
on
a
deeply
misogynistic
tone,
laced
with
gendered
insults,
threats
of
sexual
violence,
and
false
accusations
designed
to
shame
and
isolate
women.
“It
creates
a
climate
of
fear
and
forces
many
women
out
of
digital
spaces
that
should
otherwise
be
used
to
amplify
their
voices
and
advocacy,”
he
said.
Sophia
Gwasira,
who
was
elected
as
the
first
female
mayor
for
Mutare
City
in
eastern
Zimbabwe
in
August
2023,
told
Index
on
Censorship
that
the
fear
of
being
smeared
and
attacked
on
social
media
platforms
by
Zanu
PF
social
media
trolls
was
forcing
many
women
to
abandon
opposition
politics
and
activism.
She
said
social
media
platforms
were
no
longer
safe
places
for
women
in
opposition
politics
in
Zimbabwe,
with
the
attackes
affecting
both
them
and
their
families.
“It’s
affecting
us
not
only
physically
but
emotionally
too.
We
are
trying
to
find
ways
of
countering
these
attacks.
But
currently
we
don’t
have
any
protection
from
our
own
political
parties
or
from
the
government,”
Gwasira
said.
But
Gwasira
said
she
will
continue
to
fight
for
the
people
and,
given
the
opportunity,
she
would
contest
the
general
elections
slated
for
2028.
Gwasira
and
many
other
opposition
mayors,
MPs
and
councillors
were
recalled
in
late
2023
after
her
party,
the
Citizens
Coalition
for
Change
(CCC) was
hijacked by
President
Mnangagwa’s
ruling
party
Zanu
PF
through
its
proxy,
Sengezo
Tshabangu.
This
forced
the
CCC
leader
Nelson
Chamisa
to abandon
the
opposition party
and
he
took
a
sabbatical
from
party
politics
in
January
2024.
Promise
Mkwananzi,
spokesperson
for
opposition
party
Citizens
Coalition
for
Change—which
is
still
loyal
to
former
leader
Nelson
Chamisa—
told
Index
on
Censorship
that
as
opposition,
they
have
been
identifying
and
exposing
some
of
these
social
media
ghost
accounts
and
to
direct
their
members
to
counter
the
toxic
narratives
on
X.
“It
must
be
noted
also
that
these
trolls
are
paid
using
taxpayers’
money
to
denigrate
women
and
bully
voices
of
the
alternative
on
social
media,”
Mkwananzi
said.
But
Mkwananzi
was
quick
to
add
that
his
party
will
continue
to
fight
and
mobilise
people
for
a
better
Zimbabwe.
“We
are
also
educating
our
members
to
be
strong
and
to
remain
focused
on
recruiting
mobilising,
educating
and
radicalising
the
base.”
Although
women
are
the
main
target,
men
critical
of
the
ruling
party
are
also
targeted.
“In
my
own
experience,
I
have
faced
repeated,
coordinated
attacks
on
X,
particularly
from
anonymous
accounts
believed
to
be
run
or
supported
by
high-ranking
government
officials,
including
the
president’s
spokesperson.
These
attacks
are
aimed
at
silencing
dissent
and
discouraging
public
engagement.
But
we
will
not
be
silenced.
If
anything,
these
attacks
only
reinforce
the
urgency
of
our
work,”
said
Tendai
Ruben
Mbofana.
When
President
Mnangagwa seized
power through
a
military
coup
from
Zimbabwe’s
long-time
dictator,
Robert
Mugabe
in
2017,
President
Mnangagwa
promised
sweeping
reforms;
economic
and
political
reforms,
including
upholding
human
rights
and
rule
of
law
in
the
country.
However,
Zimbabwe
has
become
worse
under
President
Mnangagwa
than
Mugabe;
political
opponents
to
Zanu
PF
have
been
brutalised, tortured and killed and
corruption
is
widespread.
A
recent
report by
Human
Rights
Watch
said
authorities
in
Zimbabwe
have
continued
to
restrict
civic
space
and
the
rights
to
freedom
of
expression,
association,
and
peaceful
assembly
and
the
human
rights,
political
and
economic
situation
in
Zimbabwe
continues
to
deteriorate.
Under
the
current
constitution,
President
Mnangagwa’s
term
of
office—his
second
and
last
term—ends
in
2028
but
his
party
is
now
planning
to
amend
the
constitution
to
keep
him
in
office
till
2030.
Meanwhile,
Mnangagwa’s
Varakashi
are
flooding
social
media
with
messages
in
support
of
the
extension
of
his
term
and
touting
his
“achievements”
so
far.
Source:
Zimbabwe:
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
online
stormtroopers
target
women
who
speak
out
–
Index
on
Censorship