Digital gangs unleash terror on Zimbabwe's private press

Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF has come under renewed scrutiny following the publication of a report by media watchdog INTELWATCH alleging an increasingly coordinated campaign of online intimidation and harassment targeting journalists, critics and civil society actors.

The Johannesburg-based organisation claims the ruling party and its supporters have developed structured digital networks aimed at defending the government while discouraging critical reporting through sustained online abuse and intimidation.

At the centre of the report is a group known as Varakashi, a Shona term meaning "destroyers".

"One such storm trooper group is known as Varakashi," INTELWATCH said.

"This group has become a serious threat to journalists and it also patrols cyberspace, specifically tasked with defending the ruling party and its leadership."

According to the report, the group emerged after senior Zanu PF figures urged party youths to "thrash the opposition on social media" ahead of the 2018 elections.

INTELWATCH argues that those calls evolved into coordinated online campaigns that have increasingly targeted journalists working for privately owned media organisations, opposition politicians and civil society activists.

The organisation alleges that the tactics employed include sustained harassment, ridicule, character assassination and accusations that critical journalists are foreign agents or unpatriotic.

Beyond online insults, the report also documents alleged threats of physical and sexual violence directed at journalists.

"These are not random outbursts," the report states. "They are calculated efforts designed to instil fear and force behavioural change."

INTELWATCH argues that the cumulative effect has been growing self-censorship among journalists, with some avoiding sensitive subjects or abandoning investigations altogether.

The report further alleges that Zimbabwe's media environment is shifting from isolated incidents of repression towards a more systematic model combining digital intimidation, legal pressure and surveillance.

Responding to questions on the report, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Nick Mangwana rejected the allegations.

"The government operates within the bounds of the law. There is no 'expansion of surveillance capabilities' for the purposes of targeting journalists," Mangwana said.

"The security apparatus of Zimbabwe, like that of any other country, is focused on threats to national security, not on suppressing legitimate reporting."

Mangwana also questioned the credibility of the report and the organisation behind it.

"It is important to scrutinise the messenger," he said.

"The report comes from INTELWATCH, a self-described 'campaign' organisation based in South Africa. A quick examination of their recent activities reveals a pattern of making sensational claims against African governments to garner international attention."

"We, therefore, view this latest report on Zimbabwe with the same scepticism it deserves. It is a recycled collection of old tropes designed to undermine the country's image, ignoring the tangible legislative reforms and the reality on the ground."

Zanu PF Director for Information Farai Marapira had not responded to questions at the time of publication.

The report also highlights the emergence in December of another group calling itself the Zimbabwe Anti-Presidential Criticism Team, which publicly declared its intention to counter criticism of President Emmerson Mnangagwa on social media.

INTELWATCH says such developments reflect an increasingly structured system of political pressure extending beyond traditional state institutions into digital platforms.

Among the cases cited is that of a NewsDay journalist who said she became the subject of an online campaign after co-authoring a story on the reopening of schools following the Covid-19 pandemic.

"He called me 'a news rapist' and put my picture to his X post," she said in testimony quoted by the report.

"I was just assisting my colleague. But it appears he picked on me because I am a woman."

She said the abuse that followed had affected her confidence.

"Since then I am rarely active on social media. Sometimes I lose confidence. I start thinking about how people might react to whatever I post."

The report says female journalists are particularly vulnerable to online abuse.

Citing findings by the Gender and Media Coalition of Zimbabwe, INTELWATCH notes that nearly two-thirds of female journalists have experienced technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

The watchdog also points to the continued use of legal provisions under which journalists have been arrested on allegations such as communicating falsehoods or inciting violence, even though many such cases do not result in convictions.

According to the report, the combination of online harassment, legal pressure, economic challenges facing media organisations and the perception of state surveillance has created an environment in which journalists increasingly practise self-censorship.

INTELWATCH further argues that the unresolved disappearance of journalist and activist Itai Dzamara in 2015 continues to cast a shadow over Zimbabwe's media fraternity, reinforcing fears about the potential consequences of critical reporting.

The organisation concludes that the cumulative effect of these pressures extends beyond journalism itself.

"In a functioning democracy, the ability to question authority is fundamental. But when that space contracts, the effects ripple outward, shaping public discourse and limiting the flow of information available to citizens," the report states.

Quoting online publication ZimLive, the report describes the emergence of organised anti-criticism groups as a dangerous step towards a system in which intimidation replaces open democratic debate.

"What these zealots announced is not politics. It is not patriotism. It is the institutionalisation of fear," the publication is quoted as saying.

While the government rejects the allegations, the report argues that the gradual erosion of space for independent journalism poses broader questions about media freedom, democratic accountability and freedom of expression in Zimbabwe.