Ivory Coast: a bill on electronic communications worries journalists
A bill relating to electronic communications worries Ivorian journalists, and in particular investigative journalists.
It would prohibit the publication of electronic messages without the consent of the author or recipient, which would constitute, for its opponents, an obstacle to press freedom.
In Côte d'Ivoire, journalists fear that the new legal framework for electronic communications will hamper investigative work.
(illustration) © CC0 Pixabay/Contributor
By: RFI Follow
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With our correspondent in Abidjan
,
Marine Jeannin
This bill, examined Thursday March 14 in the National Assembly, must establish a new legal framework for electronic communications.
It was supported by the Committee on Research, Science, Technology and the Environment, made up of around twenty deputies from the ruling party and the opposition, and was adopted unanimously.
The bill has 252 articles, but it is a short paragraph, the third of article 214, which concentrated the debates in the hemicycle.
It stipulates that “
anyone who intercepts, discloses, publishes or uses the content of electronic messages, or reveals their existence, is liable to heavy penalties, except in the event of express consent of the author or recipient of the communication, or upon request of the judicial authority in the context of a judicial investigation.
The penalty incurred is five years' imprisonment and 10 million CFA francs
.
For the Minister of Digital Transition and Digitization, Ibrahim Kalil Konaté, the objective of the text is to improve the protection of privacy.
But independent MP and former journalist Tiémoko Assalé fears “
an obstacle to the exercise of the profession of investigative journalist and a serious attack on press freedom
”.
The National Organization of Investigative Journalists of Côte d'Ivoire (ONJI-CI) also issued a statement to this effect, predicting that the law “
will dissuade journalists from pursuing certain investigations or disclosing information important to the public.
Furthermore, it could complicate the protection of sources, compromise journalistic independence and increase legal risks when gathering evidence
.”
The bill must be voted on in plenary session on April 18.
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