- High court orders Econet to ceize covid 19 updates,
- Updates described as inhuman and illegal,
- The high court saying the SMS’s are traumatizing and depressing.
The high court of Zimbabwe has with immediate effect barred Econet wireless from sending the unrequested daily covid 19 updates to its subscribers.
The development comes after Sikhumbuko Moyo, who lost his father to the virus in January made an appeal to the high court saying the SMS’s are traumatizing and depressing.
The messages offend several of his constitutional rights including “the right to privacy, the right to free association and the freedom from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment,” Moyo’s lawyers said.
The interim order signed by High court judge Justice David Mangota noted, “The unilateral uninvited transmission of messages to the applicant by the respondent service provider is illegal, wrongful and unconstitutional.
The actions of the respondent failing to stop sending unwelcome messages to the applicant after demand violates the applicant’s constitutional right of free association.
It is declared that respondent’s actions; in so far as continued communication was made to the applicant of traumatizing information, violated Section 53 and Section 57 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No. 20 of 2013.
It is declared that the action of the respondent in unilaterally supplying applicant’s details to a service platform and or a third party for transmission of information unrelated to service provision and transmission of uninvited information is a violation of the contractual relationship between the parties.”
Despite being unconstitutional and depressing, the statistics messages are informational and very useful to those who do not have the data to access the information online. Perhaps for collective convenience, Econet should have given users a subscribe and unsubscribe option so that those who would feel offended can unsubscribe.
