Anti-Democratic Cyber Bill Passes Second Reading

The Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Bill passed its second reading in Parliament on Thursday, with 83 representatives voting in favour of the bill and 52 against. 

The highly controversial bill has prompted civil society and opposition politicians to sound warnings about its potential negative impact on basic democratic freedoms.  

If the Bill goes forward in its current format there is considerable concern that the law would enable the government to listen to private conversations in full at any time. 

As well as infringing the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy the Bill could also set back the fight against corruption in the wake of the HoneyBee Pharmacy scandal. 

Commenting on yesterday’s vote Alliance for Community Action (ACA) Executive Director Laura Miti wrote, “Yesterday, 83 Members of Parliament voted to pass the horrendous Cyber Crimes Bill.” 

“I have woken up in the middle of the night hurting for my beloved Zambia,” Miti continued. 

Civil society groups have united in warning that there has been little to no consultation of NGOs during the drafting process, with a joint statement issued by groups including the Chapter One Foundation, ActionAid, ACA, Caritas, Centre for Trade Policy and Development, CCZ, GEARS, TI-Z. Peoples’ Action for Accountability and Good Governance in Zambia and the Zambia Council for Social Development. 

They also warned that “Zambia has specific obligations under several human rights treaties which guarantee in no uncertain terms the rights of all Zambian citizens to freely express themselves and to have their privacy respected. In its current form, the Bill falls short of several regional and international set standards on human rights aligned laws such as the the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention) which sets the standard for cyber security and personal data protection laws as well as capacity building, knowledge exchanges and experience sharing among signatories.” 

The organisations called on Members of Parliament to consider the “dangerous provisions” in the Bill that must be addressed before it passes. 

In a powerful message they warned MPs to remember “that they too may at any given time fall prey to legislature that limits their freedom of speech and right to privacy.”