Human Rights Watch called on the House of Representatives, in eastern Libya, to repeal the 2022 Anti-Cybercrime Law that "restricts freedom of expression."
She said the authorities in eastern Libya should immediately release anyone they hold under this law for their peaceful expression.
On February 16, 2023, the authorities of this region announced that they would begin implementing the Anti-Cybercrime Law passed by the House of Representatives in September 2022.
Four UN experts criticized the law as violating the rights to freedom of expression, privacy and association, and said it should be repealed.
On February 17, authorities arrested two women, one singer and the other an online content creator, on charges of violating the law and violating "honor and public morals."
Hanan Salah, co-director of the rights group's Middle East and North Africa division, said: "Libyans should have the right to freedom of expression online or offline. It is not acceptable to infringe on this right in the name of fighting cybercrime."
UN experts commented in March 2022 that the draft law under consideration "could have a serious impact on the enjoyment of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to privacy."
These experts are the Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the rights to freedom of expression and opinion, freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the situation of human rights defenders and the right to privacy.
According to Watch, Libya's House of Representatives, which has been the country's legislative authority since its election in 2014, has not consulted civil groups, technology experts or cybercrime experts.
Two authorities are vying for national political legitimacy and control in Libya: the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, which was nominated by delegates in March 2021 after UN-supervised talks, and the Government of National Stability, the rival administration in the east, based in Sirte, nominated by the House of Representatives in March 2022 and allied with forces led by retired General Khalifa Haftar.