Lusaka: It has been almost three months since Zambia's president, Hakainde Hichilema, signed the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Acts of 2025 into law. His supporters hailed the laws, calling them progressive, and said they would help fight digital crimes and improve national security. But rights groups maintain the laws, especially the Cyber Crimes Act, are undemocratic, and stifle freedom of expression and speech.
According to Deutsche Welle, Mulambo Haimbe, Zambia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said the legislation is meant to protect citizens online and not stifle fundamental freedoms. “This conception that the cyber laws are perhaps meant to intrude, to go into your personal details in a willy-nilly fashion is not correct,” he told journalists at a press briefing in Lusaka. Oliver Shalala Sepiso, a media consultant for the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND), also defended Zambia's new cyber laws - saying they are not about the surveillance of citizens but merely for digital or data protection.
Given that the laws are meant to protect Zambians from digital crimes and identity theft while improving national security, their enactment on April 8 received surprisingly little fanfare. There was so little media coverage that most Zambians only learned about the new rules through an alert issued by the United States embassy in Lusaka, warning Zambians abroad about the intrusive nature of the legislation.
"Cyber legislation is needed to combat cybercrimes that are very rampant, like identity theft, and online fraud," Richard Mulonga, CEO of Bloggers of Zambia, told DW. "There are some provisions that have the potential to restrict free expression, for example, assembly and association, and just broader digital rights." Lungisani Zulu, President of the Law Association of Zambia, said his association will challenge the new law in court.
The new laws replace the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act of 2021, which was passed by former president Edgar Lungu. Under these laws, Zambia police arrested Mbewe Sibajene in April 2024 for circulating satirical memes and videos mocking government officials and institutions. Among the contentious provisions are laws that criminalize so-called false information, vague definitions of indecent content, and a lack of protection for journalists reporting on sensitive national issues.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), a regional media watchdog in eight African countries, says the new law has already impacted journalists negatively. "Journalists are living in fear because whenever they are doing their stories, they need to now do self-censorship because they don’t know what is going to come out from what they are doing," Kennedy Mbulo, vice chairperson of MISA Zambia, told DW.
Tech-savvy young Zambians are divided over the new cyber laws. Kellys Mushota, a frequent social media user and youth member of Zambia's Congress of Trade Unions, has noticed some changes online. "The enactment of this law has seen some reduction in the number of harassment or even the way of harassment social media users engage in," he told DW. Kitwe-based 22-year-old researcher Joshua Seke expressed concerns about privacy, questioning whether private conversations are being intercepted by authorities.
As opposition leader, President Hichilema repeatedly criticized cyber laws, describing them as tools of government surveillance. Yet he has enacted arguably even stricter cybersecurity laws. The West Africa Media Foundation has also reported a rise in restrictive cyber laws infringing on freedom of expression and privacy in countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Niger.
