Information Communication Technology and Postal Courier Services minister Tatenda Mavetera yesterday distanced herself from claims that the government is planning to licence WhatsApp group administrators.
There were reports last week that Mavetera had said WhatsApp group administrators must acquire licenses from the Postal Regulatory Authority of Ziimbabwe (Potraz) or risk being fined US$2 500 for collecting personally identifiable information (PII) in terms of the Cyber and Data Protection Act.
“I would like to distance myself from the malicious fake news of intentions by government to license or penalise WhatsApp groups or administrators of any social media platform/s,” she said in a statement.
“This claim is not applicable especially to players who do not collect and process PII for commercial or business use.
“PII is any type of data that can be used to identify someone from their name and addres to their phone number, passport information and ID number.
“The public is encouraged to disregard this notice with the utmost contempt it deserves as it is inconsistent with our legal provisions.”