With the media restricted, Zimbabweans are using new technologies for political campaigning and communication.

Blogs, Flickr, Facebook, SMS, YouTube and mash-ups have been used in a number of ways, from providing up-to-date news to passing on political jokes.

Ndesanjo Macha, a Tanzanian blogger, journalist and lawyer who is based in the US, writes on the Global Voices online blog that: ‘If you are in Zimbabwe and your phone rings, you might be receiving a news headline from SW Radio, an election update from Kubatana.net or a political joke about Robert Mugabe.”