reach out to their customers and clients alike. This may have led to a significant loss of revenue25. Finally, the blockade violates certain basic standards where freedoms of expression, speech and assembly are concerned. This is also reflected in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). These conventions embody the principles of proportionality and protection of legitimate interests in derogating from the fundamental freedoms. As such, Freedom of expression as enshrined in the Zambian Constitution in Article 20 states as follows: Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to impart and communicate ideas and information without interference, whether the communication be to the public generally or to any person or class of persons, and freedom from interference with his correspondence Notwithstanding, there exist certain situations in which derogations from the freedom of expression are granted. These include protection of public morals, health, security and order. It is from these derogations that other laws derive their impetus to restrict freedom of expression (even online in this case), such as the emergency powers which allow for severe actions as well as the Penal Code. More directly, though, Section 14 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act (No. 2 of 2021) gives the following powers and privileges relating to emergency cyber security measures and requirements: 14. (1) The Minister may, in consultation with other relevant agencies, issue regulations authorising or directing a person or organisation specified in the regulations to take such measures or comply with such requirements, where the Minister considers it necessary for the purposes of preventing, detecting or countering a threat to— (a) the essential services; (b) national security and defence; (c) foreign relations; 25 There are currently no available statistics on the extent of online commerce as well as the losses incurred as a result of the shutdown in question. 33