Nature of Complaint
Ms Sukai Tongogara filed an official complaint with the Media Complaints Committee on 14 February 2023 via WhatsApp regarding her profile/ biography that was published by Pindula on 12 January 2023 https://www.pindula.co.zw/Sukai_Tongogara . According to Ms Tongogara’s complaint, the profile claims that she is the daughter of the late General Josiah Magama Tongogara, but it goes on to state that this truth is disputed and refers to a story carried by The Herald on 21 March 2013 https://www.herald.co.zw/tongos-family-distances-itself-from-sukai/ in which Angeline Tongogara was disputing her birth right. Ms Tongogara says that Pindula is furthering the agenda to discredit her. She adds that the best way to verify the details of a birth record of an individual is through the legal custodians of birth records in Zimbabwe which is the Registrar General of Zimbabwe and not The Herald or any hearsay.
Ms Tongogara mentions that the profile intends to tarnish her image. She says the events section, which refers to accusations of corruption, abuse of office and a high court application, is irrelevant because she was cleared of these charges, and that it also presents a security threat because the publication revealed her address of residence. In this respect, Ms Tongogara is requesting Pindula to correct her personal details and remove the events section or remove her biography.
Procedure: Full Adjudication of the Matter
The matter went to full adjudication before the committee. Pindula at the adjudication meeting said they are story amalgamators and not a news agency hence they compile information published from all reputable sources and do not interview anyone when doing a profile of someone. Pindula said they have a profile template they use to fill in the data getting information from different published credible sources so whatever is published they amalgamate, whether positive or negative. However, Ms Tongogara argued that they selectively put the information they wanted on her profile as they did not also put the articles published by The Standard Newspaper which did an interview with Michael Tongogara before he died where he confirmed that Ms Sukai was not his daughter but Josiah’s. Ms Tongogara proved through her birth certificate that she is indeed Josiah’s daughter and also argued that the way her profile was done is different from how they cover other people as if they had a hidden agenda. Pindula had also published her house address which was a security issue to her and she has requested that they edit her profile or delete it altogether. Pindula refused to edit her profile saying they do not interview people, they are not journalists, they just amalgamate information that is published and if they are to edit her profile, she has to have the information she wants to be included or not included in her profile published somewhere or removed from a certain publication so that they incorporate it in the profile or remove it in her profile they had already posted. However, the MCC advised that as communicators /publishers they have a responsibility as explained in the Cyber and Data Protection Act. The Committee said they still need to be fair, accurate, and balanced, the principle of do no harm still applies to them as story amalgamators or publishers or communicators. The MCC appraised both parties of the Act and particularly took them through Section 18 which explains the duties of a Data Controller and a data subject. Pindula after this enlightenment agreed to take the profile down by end of day of that meeting date. The profile was taken down a few hours later. Both parties were professional in their engagement.
STATUS: Resolved
Pindula pulled down the profile from their website on 24 February 2023.
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