A planned mass-stayaway by critics of President Robert Mugabe fizzled out as the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) on Wednesday said it was not shutting down social media and instant messaging applications. Officials have insisted, however, that cybercrime is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed through legislation.

Zimbabwe is finalising a cybercrime bill that was crafted in 2013, according to Revai Makuruva, a Potraz official who spoke at a Cyberbilltalk event in Harare.

"Cybercrime is a criminal offense in all countries of the world," said Makuruva.

While analysts and tech experts say the bill will regulate the use of social media services and digital platforms, those against it believe it is government's response to the growing mobilisation of protests using social media.

Critics have accused Potraz of making #zimcyberbill more about the common online crimes, while waiting to 'remove' users from social media platforms.

A call was made through social media using the #thisflag movement for people to stay away from economic activity on Wednesday, but it has largely been ignored.

However, there was a heavy police presence in Harare's central business district, with authorities not taking chances, according to sources.

Earlier in the day, a viral message – purportedly coming from Potraz circulated on WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook, warning that there will be a shutdown of social media messages

"..There shall be a blackout of telecommunication across all network providers as from 10:00 to 14:00 on 31 August 2016. This has been necessitated by the continuous and increased abuse of social media," read the initial message which has now been refuted.

Potraz said on Wednesday that it had not issued the statement, highlighting that it had "noted with concern that there has been an abusive social media message... on telecommunications blackouts" during the day.