Parliament has passed the controversial Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, 2022, privately moved by Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko. The bill imposes tough penalties for cybercrimes.
The new amendments prohibit the sharing of any information relating to a child without authorization from a parent or guardian. It also prohibits the sending or sharing of information that promotes hate speech.
Also, a new clause in the bill, proposed by 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 a disguised or false identity, commits an offence”.
The bill provides that a person who manages an account of an organization where this happens will be held liable for the commission of the offence.
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”.
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.
Social media accounts that are verified will be presumed to be owned by the people in whose names the accounts are run unless the contrary is proved.
Also, a person whose telephone numbers and or email addresses have been used in creating social media will be personally liable for prosecution for offences committed under the act as amended.
Magogo justified the clause as being intended to “provide for the regulation of social media”.
The bill also criminalized and defined unsolicited information but excused commercial advertisements from the categorization, granting advertisers the liberty to share information with target audiences.