Gov’t to Amend all Existing Communication Laws As Parliament Passes Cyber bill

The Minister for Minister for ICT and National Guidance, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi says his Ministry is in the process of reviewing all laws related to communication for amendment.

Baryomunsi stated on Thursday during plenary that as technology advances, the public tends to misuse or abuse communication it by promoting hate and false information.

“There is an increasing tendency for people to abuse communication especially in light of technology, we are actually reviewing all the laws related to communication and will come to Parliament to review all laws  and we shall soon amend them in parliament,” he says

His statement comes as Parliament has passed the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The Bill will now be presented before the President for ascension into law.

The bill gives heavy penalties for persons releasing and sharing unauthorized access to information, sharing of information relating to children without authorization by their parents or guardians, sending or sharing of information that promotes hate speech.

The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, 2022, a private member’s bill, by Muhammed Nsereko was presented to Parliament in July 2022 and referred to the Parliamentary Committee on Information and Communications Technology for scrutiny and collection of views from the public.

The ICT committee chairperson, Hon. Moses Magogo, defined social media and created penalties for computer users who take refuge in pseudo accounts.

The clause reads: “A person who uses social media to publish, distribute or share information, prohibited under the laws of Uganda or using disguised or false identity, commits an offence”.

A person who manages an account of an organization where this happens will be held liable for the commission of the offense, the bill provides.

The clause proceeded to give a diverse definition of social media to mean, “a set of technologies, sites, and practices which are used to share opinions, experiences and perspectives, and includes YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WeChat, TikTok, Sina Weibo, QQ, Telegram, Snapchat, Kuaishou, Qzone, Reddit, Quora, Skype, Microsoft Team and Linkedin”.

Penalties

“A person who,(a) accesses or intercepts any programme or another person’s data or information; (b) voice or video records another person; or (c) shares any information about or that relates to another person, commits an offense,” reads Clause 2.

The penalty is Shs15 million, seven years in jail or both such imprisonment and fine.

Sharing of information on children without the consent of persons responsible for them will be an offence if the new Bill succeeds.

“A person shall not send, share or transmit any information about or relating to a child through a computer unless the person obtains consent of the child’s parent, guardian or any other person having authority to make decisions on behalf of the child,” reads clause 3.

The punishments remain the same, Shs15 million in fines, seven years in jail or both.

A person who commits the offence under the clause in issue shall, on conviction, suffer either a fine of Shs16 million, five years in jail or both fine and imprisonment.

“A person shall not write, send or share any information through a computer, which is likely to- (a) ridicule, degrade or demean another person, group of persons, a tribe, an ethnicity, a religion or gender; (b) create divisions among persons, a tribe, an ethnicity, a religion or gender; or(c) promote hostility against a person, group of persons, a tribe, an ethnicity, a religion or gender,” reads the Bill’s definition of hate speech.

Sharing of unsolicited information, of malicious or misleading information, will all earn one seven years in jail, Shs15 million in fines or both stringent punishments.

The Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka assured the house that the Executive is ready to make this law work.

Once the law is put in place, we as the executive will make sure we implement it in all fairness so that everyone enjoys their country, he said