President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which was passed by parliament recently.

 Sponsored by a private member, the Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko, the law makes it a crime to write, send or share hateful, unsolicited, misleading, or malicious information online. 

The law also crimi-nalizes the use of photos on social media without the express permission of the owners. The Act also prohibits sharing information, which is likely to degrade, or ridicule another person, group of persons, tribe, religion, ethnicity, or gender, and about children without the consent of their parents or guardians.

Following the President’s approval, a person found guilty of recording another person’s voice or video without their person and unauthorized access to personal information will be fined 10 million Shillings or imprisoned for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.

Last month, the Human Rights Network for Journalists-HRNJ, which advocates for media rights, wrote to the President, saying that the amendment has several clauses that raise more questions than provide answers.  hey cited clause 2(a), which seeks to make unauthorized access to information an offense. 

Human Rights Network for Journalists noted that this particular clause fails to define, which information about someone can be shared without one risking legal peril and that it also infringes on the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression and of the media.

Besides the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Act, President Yoweri Museveni has also assented to the Kampala Capital City (Amendment) Act, 2022, the Mining and Minerals Act, 2022, and the Physical Planners’ Registration Act, 2022.