Zimbabwe this week inched closer to scrapping the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa), a law infamous for curtailing the work of journalists.
Enacted in 2002, it was used by the government to block media freedom and diversity. It also imposed huge licensing fees on newspapers.
The law also barred foreigners from owning newspapers and radio or TV stations. Public institutions were allowed 30 days to respond to inquiries from the public or from media institutions. This was seen as a tactic to delay access to information.
The law was also used to shut down private newspapers. It barred the distribution of foreign newspapers and denied the registration of international broadcasters such as the BBC, CNN and Sky News from operating in the country.
Ivanhoe Gurira, the director of international communications services at the ministry of information, this week said the repealing of the law showed the government's sincerity in making media reforms.
Gurira said laws on data protection would be consolidated in the Cyber Security, Data Protection and E-transactions Bill to govern social media and online activities.
The government is said to be keen on regulating social media, which it regards as a means to mobilise protest. Last month the government shut down the internet during a three-day stayaway protest.
Initially the government proposed to have three data laws, the Electronic Transaction Bill, the Data Protection Bill and the Cyber Security Bill. The attorney-general, Prince Machaya, recommended a combined bill.
"The principles of the new consolidated bill have been presented to cabinet and have been approved," Gurira said.
Media lobby groups are keeping a close watch on the bill to ensure it does not infringe access to information.
The Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) said the new bill should not favour cybersecurity over data protection and privacy rights.
"The data protection model law and the e-transaction model law are good, but the issues were mainly to do with the cybersecurity law ... so far the conservation in Zimbabwe has been about preserving national security and cybersecurity, " said Kuda Hove, Misa's Zimbabwe programmes officer for legal and information and communication technology policy.
"So again, just like we saw with Aippa where media regulation overruled access to information and protection to privacy, we are seeing a similar pattern with cybersecurity overriding data protection and privacy needs."
Media law expert Jacqueline Chikakano said the recent internet shutdown raised concerns about freedom of expression and access to information.
Loughty Dube, the director of the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ), said the government should pave the way for stakeholder engagement to guarantee democratic media reforms.
"What the VMCZ hopes to see is a totally reformed media environment. While efforts to repeal Aippa are commendable, what the VMCZ hopes for is the coming in of democratic media reforms reached through a stakeholder engagement process," he said.
"It is hoped that the access to information law will enable citizens and the media to access public information held by government bodies without the law being used to infringe on citizens' private communications."
Journalist Sydney Saize, who has been arrested on numerous occasions for breaching Aippa, said the repeal of the draconian law was "baby steps" to democratic media reforms...