The US Embassy in Zambia has issued an alert to American citizens about a new cybersecurity law that requires surveillance of electronic communications in the country.
The embassy warned Americans “in or planning to visit Zambia of a new law that requires the interception and surveillance of all electronic communications in the country,” including calls, emails, texts and streamed content to check for “critical information,” a term described as “so broadly defined that it could apply to almost any activity.”
Zambia’s government defended the law as necessary to combat online fraud, child pornography, and disinformation. The foreign ministry responded that the Cyber Security Act is “not intended to invade any person’s privacy” of either Zambians or foreigners, stating: “The Law does not authorize mass or random surveillance. Any interception or data request requires a court-issued warrant.”
The government clarified that “critical information” refers to national security, with assessments “carried out by authorized institutions, in line with due process.”
Critics fear the law could target government critics, especially with elections approaching next year. Some Zambians are concerned that a new cybersecurity unit is being established within the president’s office.
The legislation empowers law enforcement officers with warrants to search premises and seize computers containing evidence of offences. It also permits the extradition of Zambians who commit offenses under the law, with penalties ranging from fines to prison terms between five and fifteen years.
The law requires ICT companies to proactively intercept all electronic communications. President Hakainde Hichilema signed it on April 8 with minimal publicity, and many Zambians only learned of it when the US embassy posted its alert on Facebook.
The alert surprised many, given the previously warm US-Zambia relations under Hichilema’s administration, though the ambassador has recently criticized alleged government corruption.
Social commentator Laura Miti called the US embassy “hypocritical” while also describing the new law as “tyrannical,” referencing America’s own surveillance history: “Until Edward Snowden revealed the matter, the US secretly surveilled its citizens for years.”
In 2021, while in opposition, Hichilema himself opposed a similar law, writing: “The Cyber Security and Crime Bill is not about preventing cyber-bullying. It is about clamping down on freedom of expression and spying on citizens.”
Opposition lawmaker Miles Sampa accused Hichilema of reversing his position, questioning: “When did you change this stance to now sign a law that almost 100% prohibits us citizens from expressing ourselves on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, etc., without being jailed for 25 years or life imprisonment?”
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