could also be vital for decision making. Citizens were unable to follow the voting process as well as the immediate post-poll formalities. This bred speculation, perpetuating misinformation and disinformation, particularly because vote counting was underway amid high levels of anxiety and tension. Secondly, the blockade compromised cybersecurity and individual safety against online fraud, among other vices. This is because citizens resorted to the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)24 in a bid to circumvent the partial internet shutdown which resulted into social media access limitation. However, because the concept of VPNs was new as an evasive tactic, many citizens exposed vital details as they downloaded any available VPNs, including intrusive VPNs which utilise phishing and other data harvesting tactics. As such, some citizens conducted bank transactions and other financial transactions via VPNs, making them vulnerable to attacks and online fraud. Thirdly, the blockade caused disruption to business as several SMEs rely on social media to reach out to their clients and effect sales. The blockade, which lasted two days, therefore, meant SMEs could not easily transact or 24 A virtual private network (VPN) gives you online privacy and anonymity by creating a private network from a public internet connection. VPNs mask your internet protocol (IP) address so your online actions are virtually untraceable. See https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-what-is-a-vpn.html 32