Several users from Zambia have taken to Twitter, informing the general public that WhatsApp has been restricted in the country amidst ongoing general elections holding today. The president and parliamentary elections are heralded by a face-off between current President Edgar Lungu and opposition Hakainde Hichilema.
Internet monitoring organization Netblocks further corroborated these reports adding that multiple internet providers in Zambia had restricted access to the American social messaging platform. Some of these networks include Zambian government-owned Zamtel, Airtel Zambia, Liquid Telecom, and MTN.
Just this week, reports circulated that the Zambian government had threatened to shut down the internet if Zambians “failed to use the cyberspace during this year’s election correctly.” The reports say the government intended to go through with its plans from Thursday, the polling day, till Sunday, when vote counts are expected to have ended.
However, the Zambian government, via its Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Amos Malupenga, came out to deny the reports, calling them ‘malicious.’ Nevertheless, he mentioned that the government would not tolerate abuse of the internet and if any mischief occurred, there would be no hesitation to take appropriate measures.
“Government, therefore, expects citizens to use the internet responsibly. But if some people choose to abuse the internet to mislead and misinform, the government will not hesitate to invoke relevant legal provisions to forestall any breakdown of law and order as the country passes through the election period,” Malupenga said.
Zambia’s elections are hotly contested, and like many African elections, social media restrictions and internet shutdowns are now a recurring theme. Most governments argue that they do it to maintain security; however, it’s glaring to see the process as a means to curb the spread of vital information across their countries. Countries like Cameroon, Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Guinea, Togo, Benin, Mali, Mauritania have faced social media restrictions and internet shutdowns during elections. However, a handful of others like Chad, Nigeria, and Ethiopia have experienced similar restrictions for unrelating events.
Today’s event indicates that despite denying reports about an imminent internet shutdown, the Zambian government is heading in that direction by cutting off WhatsApp. While writing, Netblocks reported that the other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Twitter, are now restricted in the country as well.
It remains to be seen if there will be a full internet shutdown, but internet users in Zambia are now using VPN services to circumvent the restrictions on WhatsApp and these other platforms.