By: Noémia Mendes
Maputo (Moz Times)- There are signs that the government will again restrict access to the internet in Mozambique as a precautionary measure to avoid the spread of information during demonstrations. This follows two weeks of Internet restrictions which affected more than seven million users in Mozambique. The new threat follows the start of the “fourth phase”of the demonstrations, running from 13 to 15 November, in protest against the results of the 2024 general elections announced by the National Elections Commission (CNE). Opposition presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, speaking from an undisclosed hideout, announced the “fourth phase” on Monday. He said the demonstrations will continue until what he called “the restoration of the truth about the elections”.
The Internet was shut down for the first time on 25 October, on the third day of the demonstrations. The Internet was then available, but with restrictions on social media (Whatsaap, Facebook), which are used by most of the country’s users. This measure affected more than 7.9 million internet users, which is more than 23% of the Mozambican population, and about 9 million university, mid-level and basic students could not attend either face-to-face or virtual classes, and could not even interact with their teachers about updating the curriculum contents.
According to the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala speaking at the weekend with reporters in Ressano Garcia, on the South African border, as long as there is no “civic attitude” in this post-election context there will be internet restrictions.
“I appeal to Mozambicans to opt for a civic attitude so that there is no interruption in communications”, said Magala, adding that “When we see violations that put in danger the integrity of all Mozambicans, we have to act so that our means of communication are not used to destroy the country”.
In a denunciation of control over access to the Internet, in violation of Law 34/2014, which regulates the execise of the right to information, the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), says that it has submitted an injunction to the Maputo City Law Court against the three mobile phone operators in the country (Vodacom, Movitel, Tmcel), who are preventing young people from communicating. It is now collecting evidence that will later be submitted to the International Court.
Internet shutdown limited work of the mass media in Mozambique during the demonstrations
During the two weeks of Internet restrictions, the mass media in Mozambique say they too were badly affected by the limitations which implied failure to publish material and late distribution of newspapers and news items on the digital platforms. According to the Editor of the paper “Evidencias”, Reginaldo Tchambule, for the first time since the foundation of the paper, the weekly edition was published a day later than normal.
The Executive Director of the paper “Carta de Mocambique”, Milton Machel, says that the restrictions influenced productivity, because the staff went for days without working due to the Internet limitations.
“There were situations when we delayed in producing and publishing our contents. We had days when we could not work because there was no communication between the reporters, and more than 5 times during this period we published our material hours late. On some days we closed the paper early the following morning.”
More than 250,000 university students prejudiced by Internet shutdown
Lack of internet access paralysed the activities of various educational institutions. According to the President of the National Union of Students (UNE), Gimésio Teodoro Candido, about 90% of the institutions were paralysed during this period, affecting more than 250,000 higher education students, According to Candido, the UNE platform had more than 300 complaints “asking us to intercede with the relevant bodies, becaue this is damaging students’ interests”.
“For us, it made no sense for the government to demand the presence of students in the schools when access to the Internet was limited. What are you going to do at school, if you have no access to the internet?” He added that the government’s demand that students attend school during the demonstrations put the lives of many students at risk.
“The government undertook no prior consultations about cutting the Internet”, Candido added. “It just cut access, and didn’t care how many people this damaged”
According to a university lecturer from the Eduardo Mondlane University, Ernesto Nhatsumbo, the Internet restrictions brought many limitations during the demonstrations. “Due to the demonstrations we could not have a face-to-face and virtual meeting, which was a setback for the learning process, Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, students could work and study from home, just using the Internet”, he said. (NM)
