At the top of the newscast, we told you about a few of the bills and the loan motions that were brought to the House of Representatives today. One of those new bills is a piece of legislation to address cybercrime.
These are criminal acts in which offenders make use of computers, technology, and the internet to hide their identities and their deeds. One example of cybercrime is the malicious and unauthorized leaking of videos or pictures of women and girls committing sex acts, which is also known as non-consensual pornography or revenge porn.
Back in February of this year, the Ministry of National Security engaged in consultations to come up with a bill to address these types of offences, and today, the Prime Minister tabled a completed draft of it. Here's what he had to say about this proposed legislation in the House:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"This is the cyber crime bill 2020, madam speaker I rise to introduce a bill for an act to combat cyber crime by creating offenses of cyber crime to provide for penalties investigation and prosecution of the offenses of cyber crime and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto this bill has the recommendation of the cabinet. In introducing it madam speaker, I want to …this, I think, is legislation that is long overdue, I am not seeking it to pass it all at once, this must go to the house committee so that members of the public can have a chance to comment but I think from now I can speculate with some degree of assurance that there will be across the house support for this legislation which I repeat is long overdue. I just want to congratulate all those that worked on this bill there was I believe widespread consultation, there were special drafters retained and so much effort went into it that it is perhaps invidious for me to single out anyone individual but my wife who is the special envoy is sitting immediately in front of me and I am sure the leader of the opposition will understand we both I think occupy that same space of domestic bliss which although strong, can be precarious if we don't behave according to certain rules in that context do allow me to congratulate my wife who was certainly one of the moving forces behind this bill, thank you madam speaker."
This bill is now in the hands of the relevant House Committee.
