01/11/2025
The Shadow of Social Media Tax in Zambia
By Brenda Zulu
Zambia’s digital space has become a battleground between innovation and regulation. Over the years, successive governments have made repeated attempts to control, regulate, and tax online platforms, from tariffs on internet phone calls and digital taxes to proposals to regulate online digital marketing and regulate podcasts.
The latest move comes from the Zambia Institute of Marketing (ZIM), which has
reaffirmed its commitment to regulating the country’s advertising and digital marketing space, a move it says is intended to protect consumers and promote ethical communication, but one that has raised new concerns among digital content creators and free expression advocates.
Critics warn it is yet another attempt to tax, control, and censor the creative and independent voices thriving online.
A History of Digital Tax and Online Regulation in Zambia
2018: Tariff on Internet Phone Calls
In 2018, under the Patriotic Front (PF) government, Zambia introduced a 30 ngwee daily tariff on internet phone calls made through applications such as WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber.
Government argued that the increased use of internet-based calls was hurting the telecommunications industry and leading to job losses in companies like Zamtel, Airtel, and MTN. The Cabinet approved a Statutory Instrument (SI) to facilitate collection of the tariff through mobile operators and internet service providers.
According to research at the time, over 80 percent of Zambians used internet applications for voice calls. This “social media tax” was widely criticized as a barrier to affordable communication and an attack on digital rights. Civil society organizations, journalists, and tech advocates called it an unfair double charge, since citizens were already paying for data bundles.
2020: Proposals for a Digital Tax
Two years later, the government proposed a Digital Tax targeting global companies such as Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook, claiming they were “making profits from Zambian consumers without paying local taxes.”
While this appeared to promote fair taxation, digital rights advovates rejected it, warning that it could “kill creativity and innovation” among Zambian youth.
The same period also saw a rise in arrests of online journalists and bloggers, confiscation of media equipment, and internet shutdowns, further deepening fears of growing digital surveillance.
Remember this was a year before elections in 2021.
2024–2025: The IBA Act to Regulate Online Broadcasting
In 2024, the government announced that it was revising the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act to extend regulation to online broadcasting and podcasts.
Minister of Information and Media Cornelius Mweetwa, speaking through Permanent Secretary Thabo Kawana, said the reforms aim to “bring sanity to the online broadcasting sector”, which has grown rapidly without clear oversight.
“There is an issue to do with online broadcasting. We have seen a proliferation of what they call podcasts, and there seems to be no regulation around that area,” Mr. Mweetwa said during the presentation of the IBA and ZNBC draft layman’s bills.
He added that the reforms would also ensure that the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) operates as a true public service broadcaster, free from partisan control, a move meant to correct “anomalies” created under the previous regime.
While the government views this as modernization, media advocates fear that regulating online broadcasting could become a backdoor to licensing podcasters and online journalists, curbing independent voices in the name of “sanity.”
Critics were against licensing of online journalists and bloggers as this would inhibit independence in reporting and limit the freedom of expression.”
2025: ZIM’s Proposal to Regulate Digital Marketing
On 29 October, 2025, the Zambia Institute of Marketing (ZIM) reaffirmed its commitment to regulating the country’s advertising and digital marketing space.
ZIM Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Danny Chanda explained that this initiative will be guided by a Code of Business Practice, set for release in November 2025. The Code will specify what advertising practices are acceptable across various product categories.
The move has triggered a wave of criticism from digital content creators, etc who argue that ZIM’s jurisdiction does not extend to global digital platforms like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. They further warn that the policy will duplicate taxation, since creators already pay Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) taxes, and will threaten online freedom and innovation.
Access to the internet remains a challenge in Zambia, hindered by:
High data costs and fast-expiring bundles.
Permanent load-shedding and unreliable power supply.
Slow internet speeds in both urban and rural areas.
Meanwhile, concerns persist over blocking and filtering of content without judicial oversight as experienced during the 2021 General Elections where the social media was shut down for three days.
“Access to the internet is a human right,” digital rights advocates insist. “Regulation must protect, not punish those who use it to express, innovate, and create.”
As Zambia’s creative economy continues to expand, the real question is.....
Will regulation empower digital citizens or silence them?
The Speech Analyst
01.11.2025
