PARLIAMENT | COMPUTER | INFORMATION

The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill 2022, which outlaws the dissemination of malicious information about another person, was approved by Parliament.

The Parliamentary Committee on Information and Communication Technology adopted the bill for further consideration after it was submitted by Kampala Central MP Mohammed Nsereko (ICT).

According to Nsereko, the bill is based on the rising incidence of cyberbullying and abuse, both of which he claimed to go unpunished.

The measure calls for large penalties, protracted prison sentences, a ban on holding public office, and the removal of offenders from office.

Moses Magogo, the ICT chairman, claimed that of the seven clauses in the Bill, two were deleted, four were approved with amendments, and one was approved as is.

The committee added a sentence about social media. According to Magogo's report, the committee noticed that social media has evolved into a brand new form of communication.

The fact that it's the most frequently abused form of communication, nevertheless, necessitates regulation because it's not protected by other laws, he added.

Following Clause 2 of the Bill, those who unlawfully access, intercept, or record the data, information, or voice of another person could be fined Sh15 million, imprisoned for up to 10 years, or both.

The Bill also prohibits the sending and sharing of data about children without the authorization of their parents or guardians on a computer and, by extension, on social media. 

According to the Bill, a copy of which was tabled before Parliament yesterday, sending unsolicited messages to computer users will be criminalized under clause 4 of the Bill, an offense Nsereko proposes should be punished by a seven-year jail term, a fine of Sh15 million or both imprisonment and a fine. 

Under the new law, the sharing of “misleading or malicious information about or relating to any person through a computer is to be criminalized under clause 5 of the Bill, with a Sh15 million fine or seven-year jail term or both." 

The Bill also seeks to bar individuals who have been convicted of the offenses relating to this Bill from holding public offices or losing them to those already in office. 

“A person who is convicted under this ACT shall not be eligible to hold a public office for 10 years." "Part of the Bill reads: Where a person convicted under this Act is a leader or public officer, he or she shall, in addition to the prescribed punishment, be dismissed from or vacate office,” says part of the Bill. 

After passing the bill, he said, “Those people who think they can play around with people’s names must face the law." We are here to legislate, and for them, they are there to spoil our names," she said.