STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA These observations were actually noted in the second quarter when a group of youths out-smarted Police and used Facebook to stream their protest live from an unknown location after Police banned their planned march and deployed officers all over the capital city in a bid to quail the activities of the defiant youth group45. The youths attracted an audience of 12, 000 online viewers and delivered their intended message despite the police manhunt. It is clear, therefore, that arbitrary restrictions posed by certain laws such as the Public Order Act are being circumvented by the use of online platforms, which are becoming the new public sphere. One of the key informants, Macdonald Chipenzi, an electoral expert and Executive Director of GEARS, noted: Online spaces have been the only refuge for citizens though it is under serious government surveillance. A number of people have been arrested or sued over their stories, chats and contributions online such as use of Facebook, whatsApp. Another issue worth noting from the early part of the first quarter was a suspected internet blackout in Southern Province which was later termed as a network outage according to reports carried in the media. Such shutdowns have been experienced in other countries in times of elections and social tension as was the case with suspected ritual killings and cases of gassing at the time. It is therefore no wonder that many stakeholders raised concern and expressed interest in the strange internet blackout. Some studies conducted in Zambia on internet-based information controls particularly considering the 2016 elections and the period 2011-2012 found that Zambia was moving to second and third generation control strategies while cases of overt blocking were recorded in the pre-2014 period46. It is gratifying, however, that the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) clarified the internet blackout as carried in a story by News Diggers on 21st February as follows: 45 See https://diggers.news/local/2020/06/23/youths-dribble-police-as-they-take-protest-to-the-bush/ In a report titled “Manifestation of realpolitik in cyberspace: Analysis of the relationship between internetbased information controls and Elections in Zambia”. Available at https://cipesa.org/?wpfb_dl=219 46 pg. 41