First Draft of Cybercrime Legislation is Under Review

Today, a press release surfaced on social media on Cyber Crime Legislation. According to the release, the Office of the Special Envoy in collaboration with the Office of the Speaker of the House, Ministry of Human Development, the Attorney General’s Ministry, the Central Information Technology Office, the Ministry of National Security and the Public Utilities Commission are working together to formulate and/or amend national legislation to address the issue of cyber bullying in Belize.  The release says that the first draft of the cybercrime legislation is currently under review by an inter-institutional technical group. The release ends by saying that the Ministry of National Security is looking at establishing a cyber unit, which ComPol Chester Williams alluded to in his interview.

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We are currently in the process of drafting if not yet drafted the cyber crime legislation and so when that is passed, it will help us more in terms of dealing with the issue of cyber bullying and cyber crime. But in the time being, I will agree with you that while social media, particularly Facebook, was created with good intentions, it is now being used for purposes which I believe it was not intended for, where people are using it to attack each other or to attack other persons.”