Mr Malupenga said Government will not hesitate to invoke the relevant legal provisions if some people decide to abuse the internet to peddle falsehoods that could destabilise the country during this time of elections. He added that Government has a duty to ensure peace and stability are maintained and will not allow any breakdown of law and order. “Government, therefore, expects citizens to use the internet responsibly. But if some people choose to abuse the internet to mislead and misinform, Government will not hesitate to invoke relevant legal provisions to forestall any breakdown of law and order as the country passes through the election period,” Mr. Malupenga said. Mr. Malupenga was speaking when he handed over a video camera and a mobile phone to a Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) reporter based in Ikeleng’i District in North-Western Province, Victor Mwila, who was attacked by alleged UPND cadres in his course of duty in the area. The partial internet shutdown which led to social media access limitation resulted into grave consequences with regard to the freedom of expression online and general access to information. Firstly, the shutdown caused anxiety and speculation as several citizens relied on social media sites to access information about the election, with over ten million mobile broadband internet users in Zambia - the majority of whom are using social media sites23. It is for this reason that a lot of election campaigning was conducted on social media sites especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on public gatherings. As such, the social media blockade inhibited access to information for many Zambians that had been relying on social media for news and other updates which 23 The Digital 2021 (Zambia) report reports 5.48M internet users, 2.6M social media users, with the majority using mobile broadband internet, See https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-zambia. See also Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) indicators at http://onlinesystems.zicta.zm:8585/statsfinal/ICT%20Indicators.html. 31