The largest mobile internet provider in Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless, last night communicated the restoration of social media access to its customers via SMS.
The company, which serves more than 65% of the mobile internet subscribers in the country said:
Dear Valued CustomerThe ministerial directive invoked on operators to suspend internet and social media services was set aside this afternoon (21-01-2019), by the High Court. All internet and social media services have now been fully restored. Any inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted.
There are reports that some internet providers delayed the restoration of services even after the court ruling.
Yesterday, a High Court Judge, Justice Owen Tagu, ruled that the Minister who ordered the internet shutdown had no authority to do so. On 15 January 2019, following violent protests in the country, Minister of State in the Presidents Office for National Security, Own Ncube, ordered a shutdown of social media access and eventually ordered the shutdown of the whole internet. Access to the rest of the internet was restored, but social media access remained blocked.