Skip to main content

Activists fear Iraqi cybercrime law could limit press freedoms

The Iraqi cybercrime bill makes a reappearance amid widespread objections by civilians and activists who label it as repressive of freedoms and rights guaranteed in the Iraqi Constitution.
GettyImages-89790505.jpg

The proposed cybercrimes bill returns to the fore after the Iraqi parliament completed the first reading of the draft last week. This makes it the fourth attempt in which political parties seek to pass legislation codifying freedom of expression in the country. Similar attempts ended in vain in 2007, 2012, 2018 and 2019.

Media and human rights circles in Iraq believe that the bill — proposed by the committees of security, defense, legal affairs, education, culture, tourism, human rights, services, reconstruction, communications and media — is the harshest of similar laws in the world as it represses freedom of expression and imposes restrictions on social media sites. On Nov. 26, Human Rights Watch described the draft bill as “yet another tool to suppress dissent,” in violation of international law. For its part, the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights described it as an attempt “to intimidate society.” The Observatory said the draft law was written based on a police state approach, similar to the one adopted by the authorities during the October protests and which was intended to suppress voices opposing it. It denounced the cybercrime law as aiming to stifle “freedoms and rights'' guaranteed in the Iraqi Constitution amid widespread objections by civilians and activists.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.