"Sorry Nick, You Picked The Wrong Example", United States Responds To Govt Spin Doctor
The United States Embassy in Harare has corrected the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Ndavaningi Nick Mangwana.
Writing on Twitter, Mangwana responded to the Zimbabwe Media Review which has bemoaned censorship of artists by the government.
Mangwana sought to correct the media freedom exponents by making a comparison with the United States of America. Wrote Mangwana:
Artists are quite free to express themselves through their art or theatre. But it’s not a lawless jungle. I don’t believe in the USA you can have a play that venerates Al Qaeda or such terrorists.
That is an example of a caveat to the freedom of expression.
However, The United States Embassy told Mangwana that in America, even offensive media is protected. The embassy wrote.
Sorry @nickmangwana, you picked the wrong example. The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects our freedom of speech and expression.
Even offensive speech is protected, except in the case of imminent violence.
This follows the arrest of Davies Guzha, a film director was together with three of his colleagues arrested on Sunday for allegedly screening a film, Lord Of Kush, at Theatre in The Park Friday evening. The film had not been approved by the Censorship Board.
