Zambia

MISA-Zambia and other members of the network expressed concern over misinformation, access to voting, and harassment of the media, particularly women journalists, during polling.

MISA Regional acknowledges the enactment of the Access to Information (ATI) law and the repeal of criminal defamation of the president as historical milestones. However, these are paper victories that have been neutralised by institutional silence.

MISA Regional Director, Dr Tabani Moyo, explained that such initiatives have resulted in drastic reductions in attacks on journalists in the three other countries – Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Malawi – where a pledge was signed.

The RMLN and its Governance Charter were launched on the sidelines of the global commemorations for the 2026 World Press Freedom Day in Lusaka, Zambia, underscoring the urgent need for organised legal defence amid declining press freedom.

IFEX was among the signatories calling on the European Union and its Member States to make clear to Zambia that the decision was deeply alarming and risked casting a shadow over EU-Zambia relations.

Members and partners of IFEX and the Global Forum for Media Development stress that cancelling RightsCon and thereby seriously disrupting UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day conference weakens an already strained ecosystem and contributes to fragmentation, isolation, and, ultimately, a chilling effect on collective action.

In a joint letter, 23 organisations urge President Hichilema to halt provisions that risk placing bloggers, podcasters, and everyday users under an excessive state-controlled licensing regime.

After a 2-month legal battle, “News Diggers” was finally able to air its investigative film on China’s environmental and labour abuses in Zambia.

The opaque drafting process behind the Zambia Institute of Journalism Bill has raised concern among media stakeholders over its potentially repressive impact on media freedom.

The injunction blocking the broadcast of a “News Diggers” documentary critical of Chinese investment undermines the public’s right to access information of significant national interest.

Despite sustained pushback from civil society and digital rights groups, Zambia has enacted sweeping cyber laws that threaten fundamental freedoms under the guise of countering terrorism and cybercrime.

MISA-Lesotho is concerned that the lack of consultation and vague clauses in the Computer Crime and Security Bill risk undermining freedom of expression and media freedom.

President Hichilema is being urged not to sign Zambia’s two Cyber Bills recently passed by the legislature as they risk curbing freedoms under the guise of cybersecurity.

Zambia’s proposed Cyber Security Bill, 2024, and Cyber Crimes Bill, 2024 risk exacerbating the shortcomings of the 2021 law by introducing more regressive provisions.