Zambian cybersecurity law: alert of American embassy problems

The United States Embassy in Zambia has warned its citizens to be wary of a new “intrusive” law in cybersecurity introduced into the country of southern Africa.

The embassy has issued an alert telling the Americans “or providing to visit Zambia of a new law which requires the interception and monitoring of all electronic communications in the country”.

This includes calls, emails, SMS and streaming content “in the country to assess whether they include a transmission of” critical information “, a term that the law defines so much that it could apply to almost all activities,” said the embassy.

The Zambian government said the law was necessary to combat online fraud and juvenile pornography, as well as the spread of disinformation.

Following the an alert of the United States Embassy, ​​the Zambia Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement saying that the new cybersecurity law was “not intended to invade a person's privacy” – whether Zambians or foreigners.

“The law does not authorize mass monitoring or random. Any request for interception or data requires a mandate issued by the court,” he said.

The press release added that the “classification of” critical information “” refers to national security “and that any assessment or actions taken is carried out by authorized institutions, in accordance with a regular procedure”.

It is feared that the law will be used against anyone who criticizes the government, in particular with the elections due next year.

Some Zambians have expressed their concern that a new cybersecurity unit be created in the president's office.

Joan Chirwa, founder of the Free Press Initiative Zambia Campaign Group, told the BBC “It was a sad day for Zambia”.

She said that the law would not simply affect journalists or civil society organizations. This would affect everyone in Zambia “.

The new measurement allows an agent of the police forces a mandate to enter premises to search for and enter a computer or computer system containing equipment which is either the proof necessary to prove an offense or acquired by a person following an offense.

It also allows the government to extradite the Zambians considered to have committed an offense under the law, with a series of prescribed prison mandates.

Delinquents can be sentenced to a fine or imprisonment between five and 15 years, according to the crime they have committed.

Among other provisions, legislation obliges information and communication technology companies (ICT) to proactively intercept all electronic communications.

He was promulgated by President Hakande Hichilema on April 8 with very little advertising and the first Zambians knew this when the United States Embassy published its Facebook alert.

“As this new law introduces a considerably different intrusive monitoring ecosystem from privacy provisions that prevail in many countries, the United States Embassy encourages Americans living in Zambia or considering visiting the country to carefully assess the implications of this law and adapted accordingly,” said the American press release.

The alert surprised a lot, because the United States was largely considered to have a warm relationship with the administration led by Hichilema, although the ambassador recently criticized presumed corruption in the government.

Zambia had had a freezing relationship with the United States after the former government expelled its Ambassador for Pro-Gay Rights Daniel Fote in 2019, but relations had improved since Hichilema was elected in 2021.

The social commentator and militant of civil rights Laura Miti accused the American embassy of “hypocrisy”, while labeling the new “tyrannical” law.

“Until Edward Snowden revealed the issue, the United States has secretly monitored its citizens for years. He remains in exile and one of the most sought after by American police,” she wrote on Facebook. “It raises an eyebrow on this subject of the American Embassy. Really hypocritical.”

However, she also condemned the new law.

“It is … is a very tyrannical law that the government only needs because it does not seem sure.”

In 2021, when he was still in opposition, Hichilema opposed a similar law when the former government wanted to adopt it, writing: “The Cybersecurity and Crime Bill does not consist in preventing cyber-intimidation. It is a question of tightening freedom of expression and espionage of citizens.”

The opposition legislator Miles Sampa accused Hichilema of having made a U-turn now that he is president.

“My question is when you changed this position to sign a law that prohibits 100% of American citizens from expressing us on Facebook, X, Instagram, Tiktok, etc., without being imprisoned for 25 years or imprisonment with perpetuity,” he wrote on Facebook.

“In the current state of the cyber-laws in which you have established, Mr. President, you can also sign a martial law (state of emergency) to eliminate democracy so that we all stop talking and he leaves your good to express alone.”

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