R2K rejects the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill
Mbasa Gqokoma
02 December 2015
In a statement issued, Right
to Know says it reject the draft Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill, gazetted
for public comment by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
R2K Media Freedom and
Diversity Organiser, Micah Reddy says, while they accept the need to combat
genuine cybercrimes and protect national security, this Bill is so broad and
open to abuse that it threatens the fundamental democratic spirit of the internet.
“One
of the major problems that ends up replicating manageable work aspects is the
notorious secrecy bill”, said Micah Reddy.
He said that “So it would for example implement very harsh
penalties for which we would know as investigative journalist and others acting
in the public interest by say leaking classified data or being in a possession
of classified data”.
“It
give the security services unravel power to classify and also to survey the
internet”, he added.
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