CLAIM: Sharing or broadcasting intimate photographs or videos without the authorisation of the person in question can result in a five-year prison sentence
SOURCE: The Herald
VERDICT: True
On 12 June 2017, the Herald carried a story headlined Posting Nudes now attracts jail term. In that story, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe claimed that, ‘sharing or broadcasting intimate photographs or videos without the authorisation of the person in question can result in a five-year prison sentence’.
This followed a number of people whose intimate pictures were shared online as can be seen here and here.
The Data Protection Act was passed in 2021. On December 3 2021, Zimbabwe became part of a growing list of African countries that now have data protection and cyber laws.
Section 164E on Transmission of intimate images without consent deals with the definition and sentences associated with posting intimate pictures.
Before the current act, the laws in Zimbabwe had provisions for data protection and privacy although the laws were not really specific.
These were contained in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act which was more to do with the retention, collection and protection of personal information held by Public officers than data protection.
Background to the Law
First gazetted in May 2020 as the Cybercrimes and Data Protection Bill, it has since undergone some changes.
Initially, The Cybercrimes and Data Protection Bill was to cover all things incidental to Cybercrime and Data Protection, essentially a mash-up of two different, but related fields.
But some NGO’s were not having that. Transparency International complained that it was a human rights lawsuit waiting to happen — especially regarding government spying and stifling freedom of speech.
In July 2020, Joint Parliamentary Portfolio Committees released a report asking that both fields be separated and an independent body be set up, among other recommendations. The Parliament of Zimbabwe took heed of the recommendations, hence the new act.
These were some of the other recommendations that were brought forward by the Joint Parliamentary Portfolio Committee:
- The Bill should be amended to include the terminology that criminalises upskirting and recording of intimate images without a person’s consent.
- That the provision on child pornography should be renamed to child sexual abuse materials and should also provide for offences such as cyber grooming.
POTRAZ(Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe) has recently been running awareness campaigns on the Data Protection Act. On the 12th of June 2023 POTRAZ issued a statement on Twitter with regards to the unlawful posting of intimate pictures or videos.
Credit: Nehanda Radio
Conclusion
The claim that ‘sharing or broadcasting intimate photographs or videos without the authorisation of the person in question can result in a five-year prison sentence’ has been rated as true. This is contained in Section 164E of the Data Protection Act. POTRAZ has recently been running awareness campaigns on the Data Protection Act, in the wake of intimate pictures that have found themselves onto the public domain, issuing a statement on Twitter, on the 12th of June 2023 POTRAZ regarding the unlawful posting of intimate pictures or videos.
