Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the validity of recent reports of internet and social media shutdowns by the Government in Zimbabwe.

We are aware that the Zimbabwean Government shut down the internet and blocked a number of social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp from January 15.

On 17 January, I summoned the Zimbabwean Ambassador and urged the Zimbabwean Government to stop the disproportionate use of force, investigate any alleged human rights violations and restore full access to the internet. On 21 January, the Foreign Secretary repeated this call in a public message to President Mnangagwa.

We welcome the 21 January ruling of the Zimbabwean High Court that overturned the government decision to shut down the internet.

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