Social media and messaging apps blocked in Zambia on election day
According to a news report the WhatsApp messaging service and social media services such as Twitter and Facebook were blocked in Zambia on Thursday 12 August, 2021, a date that marked the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections. Live network data from Netblocks, showed that the services on the social media applications were restricted across various internet service providers in Zambia. The metrics from Netblocks also corroborated ‘widespread user reports of loss of access to the services’. Human rights activists had earlier in a letter called on the government to desist from shutting down the internet on election day to promote freedom of expression and transparent access to information.
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