According to the announcement made this evening by the Presidential Press Unit (PPU), President Yoweri Museveni has signed the controversial Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill into law.
According to the PPU, Museveni signed four bills into law: the Physical Planners’ Registration Act; the Kampala Capital City (Amendment) Act, the Mining and Minerals Act, and the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill.
In July this year, Kampala Central MP Muhammed Nsereko proposed an amendment to the 2011 Act, arguing that the Act doesn’t take into consideration sharing information across social media.
Last month, Parliament passed the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill 2022.
According to the bill, its objectives are “…to enhance the provisions on unauthorized access to information or data; to prohibit the sharing of any information relating to a child without authorization from a parent or guardian; to prohibit the sending or sharing of information that promotes hate speech; to provide for the prohibition of sending or sharing false, malicious and unsolicited information…”
The bill also includes provisions combating online harassment with further amendments prohibiting Ugandans from writing, sending, or sharing information that is likely to ridicule, degrade, or demean another person, tribe, religion, or gender.
For penalties, the bill initially proposed the adoption of fines up to Shs10 million and imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both for the listed offences.