Museveni passes Uganda’s controversial Laptop Misuse Invoice

A month after the Ugandan parliament passed the controversial Laptop Misuse (Modification) Invoice, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has signed it into legislation.

The announcement was made in the present day, Thursday October 14, by the Presidential Press Unit (PPU). Based on the PPU, the president signed 4 payments into legislation: the Bodily Planners’ Registration Act, the Kampala Capital Metropolis (Modification) Act, the Mining and Minerals Act, and the Laptop Misuse (Modification) Invoice.

A fast look

The invoice—now an act—is an modification to the 2011 Laptop Misuse Invoice. 

In July of this yr, a member of the Ugandan parliament, Muhammed Nsereko, proposed an amendment to the 2011 Act, arguing that the Act doesn’t take into accounts sharing info throughout social media.

Based on the invoice, its goals are “…to boost the provisions on unauthorised entry to info or knowledge; to ban the sharing of any info referring to a baby with out authorisation from a dad or mum or guardian; to ban the sending or sharing of data that promotes hate speech; to supply for the prohibition of sending or sharing false, malicious and unsolicited info…”

Whereas a lot of the invoice is just like its 2011 predecessor, the parliament launched clauses for modification of Part 12 of the invoice. Clause 2 of the modification reads: 

The invoice additionally contains provisions combating on-line harassment with additional amendments prohibiting Ugandans from writing, sending or sharing info which is more likely to ridicule, degrade or demean one other individual, tribe, faith, or gender.

For penalties, the invoice initially proposed the adoption of fines as much as UGX 15 million ($3,900), and imprisonment of as much as 10 years, or each for the listed offences. All public officers discovered responsible of offences below the invoice would additionally face disbarment from holding public positions for 10 years. These proposed amendments, nevertheless, have been struck out by the parliament in September. 

A controversial and pointless modification 

Since its preliminary proposition in July, critics have taken to on-line boards to contest the invoice.

For some just like the Collaboration on Worldwide ICT Coverage for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), it’s a “blow to on-line civil liberties”.

Whereas these amendments would naturally assist nationwide cohesion and deter cybercrime, nations like Uganda can and have used them to suppress free speech and digital rights.

For instance, author and social critic, Stella Nyanzi, has been arrested and jailed at the least twice for “insulting” Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, on social media—as soon as for calling him “a pair of buttocks” in a Fb publish. Extra just lately, acclaimed novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, was detained and tortured after he made a collection of tweets criticising Museveni and calling his son “plump” and “pigheaded”.

Authorized critics additionally declare that the invoice is filling a lacuna that isn’t there. CIPESA, for instance, explains that the invoice duplicates current the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act 2010, and Data Safety and Privateness Act, each of which already converse to illegal interception and illegal entry to non-public info.

Uganda’s ministry of data communication expertise (ICT) can also be towards the invoice with Aminah Zawedde, everlasting secretary for the ministry, calling for the withdrawal of the bill in August. Zawedde, who additionally known as for collaboration between the ICT ministry and the parliament, mentioned the ministry is engaged on a extra strong laptop invoice which would supply for the regulation of media content material. “We at present have overlaps and determined to give you the Info and Communications Invoice 2022 to be the encircling Invoice for the sector. We’re reviewing all of the Acts within the ICT sector together with the Laptop Misuse Act,” she added.

The parliament, nevertheless, denied the Ministry’s request and handed the invoice weeks later. The invoice has now handed its closing stage of changing into legislation—with Museveni’s approval. The Ugandan authorities, nevertheless, is but to announce the date from when it is going to be enforced.

The invoice comes at a vital time when many African nations are dealing with powerful social media restrictions. Nigeria, for instance, has its debated Social Media, Hate Speech Invoice, and NITDA Code of Practice Bills whereas Kenya is presently battling its ICT Practitioners’ Bill.