Internet Slows As Voting Begins

Internet connectivity across much of the country has slowed dramatically over the past week in the lead up to the August 12 general election.

Twitter has been rife with complaints over the past week as internet connectivity in the country has taken a turn for the worse.

Comments were made likening the use of internet over the last 7 days to be similar to using the internet in the “stone age”.

In a bid to prevent the negative impact of possible internet shutdowns, large groups of individuals across the country have purchased VPN’s. Internet research firm Top10VPN has documented a 151 percent increase in the use of VPNs in this week alone.

Top politics lecturer Nicole Beardsworth said that the increase in the use of VPNs was also likely due to suspicions as a result of the implementation of the Cyber Crimes bill.

“There is a lot of suspicion on the ground because of the recently enacted Cyber Crimes Act that some legal experts believe would allow government to shut down the internet,” she said.

The leading Patriotic Front appear to be confused as to their plan with regards to internet shutdowns, stating initially that they would turn off internet access before backtracking on the statement and most recently stating that if individuals use the internet to “mislead” or “misinform”, a decision will be made to turn off the internet completely.

In a bid to keep the internet on during Thursday’s general elections, the #KeepItOn coalition – made up of 240 international organisations working to end internet shutdowns globally – started a petition calling for internet access to remain uninterrupted.

Open Zambia are also running a petition to urge internet providers MTN and Airtel to keep the internet on election day and in the days which follow.