Social media and messaging apps appeared to be shut down in Zambia as the country voted in presidential and parliamentary elections, Facebook says, Your Content is learning. What’s more, Zambia’s Ministry of Information and Broadcast Services claims the blackout of internet access is simply to save any drama and confusion, citing a desire to stop the “spread of election misinformation.”
Lusaka Times, a local Zambian news organization, writes that officials from Zambia’s Ministry of Information and Broadcast Services considered shutting down internet access in the lead-up to election day, citing a desire to stop the spread of election misinformation.
“Watch Zambia carefully. The way things are trending here, I suspect similar moves in forthcoming American elections.” Connecticut-based controversial constitutional rights attorney Norm Pattis told Your Content. “The new dollar bill? ‘In Facebook We Trust.’”
A dramatic decrease in election day internet traffic from WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook spotted by NetBlocks seems to confirm that the government moved forward with that plan, revealed The Verge.