The Civil Society Coalition on the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act of 2021 held an interactive session with the Parliamentary Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technologies.
The session was held at the Bloggers of Zambia Digital Hub in Lusaka and compared notes on how the country could harness online protection laws to promote credible journalism and public uptake of information.
Speaking when he rendered his opening remarks, Committee Chairperson Honourable Eng. Raphael Mabenga said it had been observed with concern that online media at times publicized information that was not factual and of a misleading nature to the citizens.
Hon Mabenga, who is also Mulobezi Member of Parliament, said there is a lot of information that is published on social media but some of it may not be true yet the public will believe what they have read.
“So it is important that journalists publishing information on these platforms are factual and report the truth,” Mabenga said as he encouraged training institutions to take an interest in the evolution of online protection laws for incorporation in training programmes.
Bloggers of Zambia chief executive officer Richard Mulonga said the Act was an important piece of legislation but it needs fine-tuning to respond to the global developments in the ICT sector.
“We are now talking about things such as Artificial Intelligence and next time the committee comes here it may be welcomed by a robot. What impact will all this have? So we are looking forward to continuing working with Parliament, through the committee, to ensure that this particular piece of legislation speaks to the prevailing landscape of online journalism,” Mulonga said.
Mulonga said particular segments that needed to be refined included provisions such as the appointment of officers of the data protection commission by the minister.
Coalition member and Common Cause Zambia executive director Susan Mwape gave a presentation on the Act and said the law should be insulated from any abuse by a person under whose custody it found itself.
“We have seen situations in this country before where someone used their power to shut down the internet and deprive the public of critical information, such a situation should never be allowed to occur again,” she said.
Another coalition member, Bulanda Nkhowani said the law needed to be refined through enhanced stakeholder consultation.
“Before this law was enacted a consultation was called and I received an email at 15:30, with an attachment to which I was told I needed to make a submission the following day,” she explained.
Governance activist Maiko Zulu said the Act’s review was timely to ensure responsible use of social media as a tool for information dissemination, as he handed over the coalition’s recommendations to Mabenga.
The committee members Andrew Tayengwa, the Kabwata MP, Sydney Mushanga of Bwacha, Melesiana Phiri of Milanzi and Oliver Atimuke of Mongu also took turns making their views known to the coalition on the Act.
The meeting was also attended by a representative from the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions who gave the labour movement’s perspective on the Act.
