The full analysis can be found here.
Zambia has published the Cyber Security Bill, 2024 and the Cyber Crimes Bill, 2024, which would repeal the
Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act of 2021. These proposed laws’ objective of combating cyber crimes and
promoting a safe and healthy digital society is welcome, as is the need for the country to strengthen its cyber
security posture, including through legislation.
However, the current drafts of the laws not only miss the opportunity to cure some of the deficiencies in the
2021 cyber crimes law but introduce several, more regressive provisions.
In this Analysis of the two Bills, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa
(CIPESA) and Bloggers of Zambia, on behalf of the Zambia CSO Coalition on Digital Rights point to the
retrogressive and vague provisions in the two Bills, and offer recommendations that can make render the
proposed laws more robustly rights-respecting and effective in combating cyber crimes.
Progressive Provisions
- Separation of cybersecurity and cybercrime functions: The two bills depart from the current law, by
separating the cybersecurity aspects from the criminal aspects. - Structured cybersecurity governance: The Cyber Security Bill establishes dedicated bodies such as the
Cyber Security Agency and the Cyber Incident Response Teams (CIRTs). It also emphasises the importance….
