By Sarah Achen Kibisi.
patlis2000@yahoo.com
Uganda Parliament this month passed the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, 2022. If the bill is assented to by the President, the new law will among others enhance the protection of children and prohibit the sending or sharing of information that promotes hatred.
However opposition Shadow Minister for Technology Hon Gorreth Namugga, in her minority report said the bill should be withdrawn because it is a duplication of the existing laws and limits freedom of the press.
The Chairperson of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Committee Hon Eng Moses Magogo said the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, 2022 is premised on the need to enhance the enjoyment of the right to privacy which is being affected by abuse of online and social media platforms.
In February this year, Parliament granted Kampala Central Member of Parliament, Hon Muhammad Nsereko leave to introduce a private members bill amending the Computer Misuse Act.
Mr Nsereko who first hinted at introducing the Bill said the law will solve the problem of fake and malicious information, which has been enhanced by the digital revolution.
The bill proposes hefty fines, lengthy jail terms, a ban from holding public office and loss of office for convicted offenders.
The Bill also seeks to bar individuals who have been convicted of the offences relating to this Bill from holding public offices or losing it for those already in office. Hon. Nsereko said for likes and views on social media sites, unscrupulous individuals blackmail innocents, sometimes for money, a vice he said must be nipped in the bud. Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to punish individuals who “without authorisation, accesses, intercepts another person’s data or information, voice or records another person”, with a fine of Ushs15 million or up to 10 years in jail or both punishments.
Sending and sharing data about children without the authorisation of their parents or guardians on a computer and by extension social media, will become an offense punishable by seven years jail term, Ushs15m in fines or both, should clause 3 of the Bill be enacted into law.
Sending unsolicited messages to computer users will be criminalised under clause 4 of the Bill, an offence that Nsereko proposes should be punished by a seven-year jail term, a fine of Uhs15m or both imprisonment and fine.
Sharing of “misleading or malicious information about or relating to any person through a computer” is to be criminalised under clause 5 of the Bill, with a Ushs15m fine or a seven-year jail term or both such imprisonment and fine.
Media stakeholders that include media owners, editors and practising journalist are appealing to President Museveni not to assent to the draconian law.
Uganda Journalists Union (UJU) President Ms Lucy Anyango Ekadu said the Computer Misuse Amendment Bill, 2022 aims at suppressing freedom of expression, curtail the right to access to information and all together muzzle media freedom in the country■
