Mavetera Backtracks On WhatsApp Group Licensing Policy, Calls Her Statement “Malicious Fake News”

The
statement,
which
went
viral
last
week,
outlined
that
WhatsApp
group
administrators
would
need
to
secure
licenses
and
appoint
data
protection
officers.
Reads
the
statement:

The
time
is
ticking
for
organisations
that
collect
first-party
data,
as
you
are
required
by
law
to
have
a
data
protection
licence
and
the
licence
fees
range
from
US$50
to
US$2500.

Furthermore,
a
data
protection
officer
(DPO)
who
is
trained
and
certified
by
POTRAZ
should
be
appointed
by
such
a
licensee
and
the
appointment
should
be
communicated
to
POTRAZ.

Even
churches
that
collect
personal
data
ought
to
have
such
a
licensee
and
appoint
a
DPO.
WhatsApp
group
admins
are
not
spared
too,
if
your
groups
are
meant
for
business,
you
should
as
well
get
a
licence.
Failure
to
comply
attracts
penalties.

However,
in
a
post
on
X
on
Saturday,
Mavetera
labelled
the
viral
LinkedIn
post
as
“malicious
fake
news,”
saying
this
requirement
is
not
applicable
to
players
who
do
not
collect
and
process
Personally
Identifiable
Information
(PII)
for
commercial
or
business
use.
Wrote
Mavetera:

False
claim
of
USD
2500
penalties
for
WhatsApp
Group
Administrators

I
would
like
distance
myself
from
the
malicious
fake
news
of
intentions
by
government
to
licence
or
penalise
WhatsApp
Groups
or
Administrators
of
any
social
media
platform/s
USD
2500.

This
claim
is
not
applicable
especially
to
players
who
do
not
collect
and
process
Personally
Identifiable
Information
(PII)
for
commercial
or
business
use.

Personally
identifiable
information
(PII)
is
any
type
of
data
that
can
be
used
to
identify
someone,
from
their
name
and
address
to
their
phone
number,
passport
information
and
I.D.
number.

The
public
is
encouraged
to
disregard
this
notice
with
the
uttermost
discontent
it
deserves
as
it
is
inconsistent
with
our
legal
provisions
as
espoused
in
Statutory
Instrument
(SI)
155
of
the
2024
Cyber
and
Data
Protection
(Licencing
of
Data
Controllers
and
Appointment
of
Data
Protection
Officers)
Regulations.

On
my
LinkedIn
post,
I
never
expressed
any
intentions
to
licence
or
penalise
WhatsApp
groups
or
Administrators
of
any
social
media
platform/s
which
do
not
collect
and
process
(Personally
Identifiable
Information
(PII)
for
commercial
or
business
use.

I
wish
to
assure
the
public
of
the
government’s
commitment
through
the
Ministry
of
Information
Communication
Technology
Postal
and
Courier
Services
to
accelerate
cyber
and
data
democratisation
and
security
to
ensure
that
No
One
and
No
Place
is
Left
Offline.

This
is
in
line
with
our
overarching
mandate
to
the
constitution
to
promote
access
to
information
for
all
in
a
safe
and
secure
environment.

Journalist
Hopewell
Chin’ono
then
asked
Mavetera
whether
she
was
implying
that
the
LinkedIn
account
which
posted
the
controversial
statement
did
not
belong
to
her.
In
response,
Mavetera
said:

Chin’ono
expressed
dissatisfaction
with
the
response,
suggesting
that
Mavetera
should
have
a
professional
communications
officer
to
ensure
that
policy
matters
are
communicated
clearly
and
accurately. He
wrote:

So
don’t
say
it
was
a
false
claim;
you
said
it,
but
you
are
now
coming
back
with
clarification.

When
you
say
it
was
false,
you
insinuate
that
the
media
lied
when,
in
fact,
it
was
you
who
put
out
the
wrong
information.

My
advice
is
to
have
a
professional
communications
officer;
they
are
trained
for
that
kind
of
work.

You
can’t
be
walking
back
on
your
statements
when
you
are
a
cabinet
minister.

It
embarrasses
the
government,
the
country,
and
the
person
who
appointed
you.

You
should
have
said,
“I
am
sorry,
I
got
things
wrong,
this
is
the
true
position.”

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published
in:

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