‘It Will All End in Tears’: The Politics of Debt and the Spread of Misinformation on Zambian Social Media
摘要
Over the last decade, Zambian social mediaSocial media has been dominated by debates about foreign influence over the economy, the embezzlement of public funds, and the country’s descent into a debt crisis. The current government led by the United Party for National Development (UPNDUnited Party for National Development (UPND))United Party for National Development (UPND) has often used social mediaSocial media to share updates about its complex negotiations for debt treatment and its plans for economic reconstruction involving bilateral partners, multilateral organisations and private financial institutions. Opposition political parties tend to offer counternarratives that critique the UPNDUnited Party for National Development (UPND)’s reliance on external assistance, including what appears to be the International Monetary Fund’s (IMFIMF) central function and the ChineseChina government’s diminished position. They also argue that the Zambian public will cry at the end of the UPNDUnited Party for National Development (UPND)’s tenure when they realise that the government has mismanaged the process and further damaged the economy. This chapter examines social mediaSocial media narratives about Zambia’s debt and demonstrates how social mediaSocial media platforms have emerged as key spaces for public debate, tools for spreading political misinformationMisinformation, as well as digital archives of Zambia’s twenty-first-century political history.