Zambia is the latest African country to announce a plan to restrict social media use.
Addressing the parliament on Thursday, Communication Minister Brian Mushimba stated that social media in the country has been used to commit identity theft, send pornographic images and spread hate speech.
According to him, it has also been instrumental in Zambian’s detachment from cultural norms.
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“It is evident that social media in Zambia has become a catalyst for the detachment of members of the Zambian society from our cultural norms. Prior to the proliferation of social media, people in Zambia behaved and communicated within acceptable and expected cultural boundaries,” he said.
Consequently, the Zambian government is planning to draft, pass and implement by 2019, a law that would restrict such crimes.
The law is set to introduce penalties for those abusing online social media, but the minister has not stated the types of punishment and how the law would be enforced.
Zambia will join countries like Uganda, which recently restricted social media use by imposing a daily tax.
