The Sunday Mail
Tichawana Nyahuma
It would be stating the obvious to say that whoever invented the cellular phone was a genius. That person deserves much praise and applause as life today is so much more manageable with that gadget in one’s hand than before its advent.Those among us who have come of age will recall how waiting for someone was so frustrating if that person was late for an appointment or had cancelled the date altogether. There was no way of knowing what was going on. But enter the cellphone and it has become so easy to ascertain the situation.
If you should one day find yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere because your car has broken down, there is no longer any need to press the panic button in as far as summoning for help is concerned. As long as you have your cellphone, help is only a call away. It was such a dreadful experience in the days gone by.
I also recall during those “dark” days how dating was such a dangerous enterprise and nearly impossible. The suitor had to literally play hide-and-seek with the girl’s father and brothers otherwise he could end up running for dear life in the event he was caught trying to lure the girl away since it could only be done from within the precincts of her home. Come the cellphone and it is just a matter of a subtle message directly to her and she is on her way out of jail, so to speak.
On the international plane, because of the cellphone, it is now so easy to keep in touch with friends and relatives that are in the diaspora. There is hardly any difference between how we interact with those at home and those abroad.
We can even see them via the video call or on Skype and other such platforms. Back in the days, we could not hear from acquaintances who had migrated to what was then mostly referred to as “overseas” for years.
It took that one occasional letter that was usually coupled with a black-and-white photograph taken in snowy weather conditions that was delivered home by the postman, you remember him? I could go on until rock rabbits grow tails.
But the advent of the cellphone and its attendant social media sidekicks has not been without its problems and disadvantages.
In this piece, I attempt to explain the constitutionally guaranteed right of citizens to seek, receive and communicate information and other ideas with particular reference to the use, or is it abuse, of social media at the workplace and how that impacts on the employment contract/relationship.
Indeed, social media have completely transformed how life is now conducted and what is even more is that almost every adult person of even average means now has access to social media particularly through the cellphone. It is, therefore, accurate to say that the cellphone has now become part-and-parcel of our lives almost to the extent of being equally rated in terms of importance with any natural body part of a human being.
However, before I go further into the discussion, let me deviate a little.
Recently, there was a photograph that did rounds on WhatsApp. The persons appearing in the picture seem to be gathered at a train station presumably awaiting its arrival. What is striking about that snapshot is that each and every person featured is totally engrossed on his/her cellphone or some other internet-accessing tool except this one gentleman who is just standing with arms akimbo and gazing into nothingness. The caption below the photograph reads; “Man found without phone. At the time of going to print, it had not yet been established why he did not have a phone.”
If you happen to drive side-by-side with a commuter omnibus mostly in the major cities, you are likely to observe that the passengers will hardly be talking to each other. Each and every one of them will be gazing down on his/her cellphone as if their very lives depend on those appliances. There is no price for guessing what each of them will be doing.
At the family level, it is now a fact that social media have tended to divide the family as even little children now spend endless amounts of time on their cellphones/tablets/Ipads/laptops as opposed to being with each other as family. Some people have even lost their lives due to arguments between couples emanating from messages received via cellphones.
On the political front, US President Donald Trump’s love for Twitter is well documented. There is no denying that Trump’s triumph in the recent US presidential election was partly due to his unrestrained use of Twitter during the campaign.
The above are summaries of how modern-day technologies and in particular, social media, have captured and held hostage, almost the entire generation of today.
I now return to the gist of this contribution.
Section 61 (1) (a) of our Constitution confers on every person, the right to freedom of expression, which includes the right of freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information. Obviously, this right cannot be enjoyed without antecedent tools.
The said tools maybe a radio, a television set, a computer and indeed, the cell phone. I shall confine myself mainly to the law governing the use of the cellphone and generally social media at the workplace. I shall also touch on the computer in as far as it can be used to access social media. As I have said, the cellphone has become such a necessity, almost every adult person has one and with that, a challenge now confronts employers on how to deal this “menace” at the workplace.
Now if the Constitution gives citizens the right to receive and communicate information, it necessarily follows that citizens also have the right to possess any of the essential communication tools that enable them to enjoy those rights.
l To be continued
