Please take some time to read this column by Ivo Vegter.

The Cybercrime Bill also criminalises investigative journalism and whistleblowing, by making it illegal to so much as receive government data classified as confidential or secret. Possession and transmission of such information will also be illegal. The way the bill defines cyber-terrorism is far too broad. It does not make provision for legitimate protest or advocacy, and includes even acts that cause no terror, but merely disclose commercial information “which could cause undue advantage or disadvantage to any person”. It completely removes the need for government IT systems to be secured, since even if an incompetent administrator left the stable doors wide open, any breach of any system owned by anyone who is even remotely connected to government is covered by the “computer-related terrorism” clause.

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