Love and Laughter: How Zimbabweans Rebel Online

Martha O'Donovan, Munyaradzi Dodo In the last year, Zimbabwe has
seen a series of uprisings and protests that manifested both
digitally and in the streets. In April 2016, the hashtag movement
#ThisFlag started was founded by Pastor Evan Mawarire who created a
selfie-video discussing what the colours of the Zimbabwean flag
represent based on the current state of the country. The emotional
video went viral on Facebook making #ThisFlag the popular hashtag
to use to express dissent nationwide. When Evan Mawarire was
arrested on July 6, 2016 over 4,000 people protested at the
Magistrate Court until his eventual release that evening – using
#FreeEvanMawarire to report live on the situation through Twitter.
The same day, the Zimbabwean government used their networks of
power to shutdown mobile internet and network for several hours in
an attempt to suppress online organizing of the protest and limit
online expression. The #ThisFlag hashtag movement made it clear
that social media is a powerful tool for expressing dissent,
organizing protests and dialoguing about the future of Zimbabwe.
Following #ThisFlag, many other hashtags became widely used amongst
various groups including university graduates (#ThisGown),
political activists (#Tajamuka, #Hatichatya), rural mothers
(#BeatThePot), among others. This talk will explore how
Zimbabweans are using social media and comedy as a
platform for citizens to express their frustrations with the absurd
political situation.   The two panellists, Martha O’Donovan
and Munyaradzi Dodo, are both very involved in Zimbabwe’s digital
activism movement. Martha O’Donovan is the manager for Magamba TV,
a production group that uses comedy and satires as tools to tackle
current political, economic, and cultural issues in Zimbabwe. One
of the series called ‘The Week’, hosted by Comrade Fatso, is a very
popular satirical round-up of local and international news.
Munyaradzi Dodo is the manager of a citizen blog Kalabash Media and
a political reporting platform Open Parly. @OpenParlyZW is one of
the top Twitter handles to follow in Zimbabwe due to their accurate
and reliable live reporting from Parliament, protest movements, and
other political functions.