Cyber Crime back in Parliament

The AG said because of the very important matters which this legislation touches and the three-fifths majority needed to pass it in the House and Senate, “we (Government) propose to take the bill immediately to a joint select committee of the Parliament.” Al Rawi said issues such as fake news and cyber bullying are dealt with by the bill.

Noting previous concerns about how this bill could affect freedom of the press in TT, Al Rawi said Government has held detailed discussions with the Media Association of TT, TT Publishers and Broadcasters Association and other sectoral interests on the legislation. The Cyber Crime Bill is listed as the third priority bill in Government’s legislative agenda in the 2015 to 2017 period. The agenda also lists bills which Government plans to bring to Parliament in the periods 2017 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020.

In observing that young people and others in society are often the victims of online attacks, Al Rawi said the bill will replace the Computer Misuse Act of 2000 which, “has never given the level of protection it should have given.” The Computer Misuse Act, which was assented to on November 2, 2000 under the then United National Congress (UNC) government, was supposed to, “prohibit any unauthorised access, use or interference with a computer and for other related matters.”