Several top government officials and the ruling party ZANU PF bigwigs who defended the government decision to block the internet and social media sites signed up to alternative platforms to circumvent the freeze.
The government last week blocked the internet and popular online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and LinkedIn to stop the circulation of protest messages among agitated Zimbabweans. The authorities blamed the internet for spreading protests which engulfed the country for several days after President Mnangagwa announced a fuel price hike.
Desperate locals turned to Virtual Private (VPN) technology to circumvent the restriction. Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, Justice Ministry Permanent Secretary Virginia Mabiza and ZANU PF MPs Phillip Chiyangwa and Kindness Paradza were some of the officials who turned to VPNs.
The idea of internet shutdown was to minimize damage from the social media abusers who was using the platform to organize protests, so there is nothing wrong for other government officials to use VPN.