Review & Mail Writer
A Zimbabwean woman, Fadzai Madzingira, has been fired by Britain’s communications regulator – the Office of Communications (Ofcom) for posting social media messages of outrage against Israeli actions in Gaza.
Madzingira was Ofcom’s online safety supervision director, and posted anti-Israel on her private Instagram account.
According to reports from the UK, the Guido Fawkes website posted screengrabs of her account with one describing Israel as an “apartheid state”.
Ofcom confirmed the suspension, “pending further investigation”.
In another post published on Guido Fawkes, Madzingira appeared to like a post calling Israel and the UK a “vile colonial alliance”.
In a post published on Instagram Stories, she describes herself as a “Zimbabwean, a Black feminist, a student of decolonisation and a deep believer of liberty for all”, saying she has “one hope” before posting a Palestinian flag emoji.
Ofcom’s code of practice says that comments – including social media posts – which might have an adverse affect on Ofcom’s reputation and comments on Ofcom policy “should be avoided”.
Madzingira was appointed by Ofcom in June, joining from US cloud-based software company Salesforce.
Ofcom, established in 2003, has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material.
Some of the main areas Ofcom regulates are TV and radio standards, broadband and phones, video-sharing platforms online, the wireless spectrum and postal services.