Is the NDP going through the backdoor to censor the media?
At today’s January 13, 2014 Forth Sitting of the Third Session of the Second House of Assembly (HOA), while some may be focusing on the Budget Address to be delivered by Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, many need to pay attention to the new Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act, 2013 on the Order Paper.
The new Bill is down for its first reading at today’s sitting and many, including two local Attorneys, had called our news room to bring this Bill to our attention.
One Attorney, who did not want his name to be used, said “you all in the electronic media need to watch the regulations that will come after on this Bill and how they are cleverly through the backdoor trying to affect your operations…. keep your eyes on those who have consistently advocated for the crackdown on press freedom”.
Computer Misuse & Cybercrime Act 2013
In the new Bill just obtained by this news site, computer means among other things, “….any data storage facility or communications facility, including the internet, directly related to or operating in conjunction with such device or group of such interconnected or related devices”.
The Bill seems to be a bit confusing to the ordinary none legal mind and seems to be advocating the protection, in many cases, of data.
For example, in section 12 (3) it states that a computer shall be treated as protected if at the time of the commission of the offense the persons committing the offence knew, or ought reasonably to have known that, or was reckless as to whether, the computer or any programme or data contained in that or any other computer, is used directly in connection with or necessary for:
a. The security, defense or international relations of the Virgin Islands
b. the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relation to the enforcement of criminal law among others.
The new bill would impose some heavy fines for its violations including in some cases, forty to fifty thousand dollars and also imprisonment for terms not exceeding five years.
Some positives in the Bill
The Bill appears to also have some positives, as it seeks to crack down on Child Pornography, a move strongly supported by this news site. However, the fine would not exceed a million dollars.
The Bill in Section 14 states that a person commits Child Pornography if he or she intentionally:
a. Produces children pornography for the purpose of its publication through computer
b. publishes child pornography through computer
c. possesses child pornography in a computer or on any computer data storage medium.
While the new Computer and Cybercrime Act 2013 has some good areas, the online media are warned to pay close attention to this Bill by some who have looked at it.
They have also suggested that close attention is paid to the Regulations to give effect to the Bill, as the Government may be going through the backdoor to interfere with the rights of a free press.
Also on today’s Order Paper are reports from two Government Ministers, Honourables Ronnie W. Skelton and Mark H. Vanterpool from agencies under their portfolios.
The main highlight of today’s Sitting is the Speech on the Budget which will give way to the Appropriation Act of 2014.
The HOA meeting will be carried live on CBN Channel 51 from 10:00 a.m.
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30 Responses to “Is the NDP going through the backdoor to censor the media?”
Instead of squashing media, I want more investigative journalism to expose corruption like the audit did.
All these new bills are intended to protect the government and not the people.
If the government feels they can pass a new bill through the house that in any way hampers or infringes upon freedom of speech, I think it is safe to say that the people of the Virgin Islands will not take THAT lying down.
We can be complacent about a lot of things, but freedom of speech is not one of them! Government may be getting cozy with the Chinese, but I can promise you that Caribbean people won't stand for the Chinese style of government, including government imposed censorship!