Government is being sued by activists for the Nsereko Computer Misuse Act.
The Computer Misuse Act 2022, which was signed by President Yoweri kaguta Museveni on October 13th, is being contested by thirteen people before the Constitutional court at Twed Towers.
The Computer Misuse Act 2022, which was signed by President Yoweri kaguta Museveni on October 13th, is being contested by thirteen people before the Constitutional court at Twed Towers.
Prior to being amended in 2022 and passed on July 19, 2022, the contentious law was passed earlier in 2011 to improve safety and security in the digital sphere by preventing unauthorized access to, abuse of, or misuse of information systems, including computers, and securing the conduct of electronic transactions.The petitioners contend that seven portions of this statute should be deleted because they conflict with the supreme Law.
The petitioners’ attorney, Arinaitwe Peter, stated, “It’s a law worth breaking and we shall break it, and even from here we’re going to write and post these thieves.”
In addition, Arinatwe claims that they would continue to violate the Computer Misuse Act while they await the court’s ruling.
Norman Tumuhumbise
One of the petitioners, Norman Tumuhimbise, stated that they would battle tenaciously to prevent the implementation of this law, adding that they were also defending the first son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba;
This legislation applies to all of us, therefore we ask the first son to continue breaking it as he has been doing and we will join him in doing so. We are here to fight this law but we are also here to protect the first son since he is enjoying abusing his phone. said Tumuhimbise
He further claims that the only way for these leaders to regain their “sense” and begin serving the country is for them to mobilize as many people as they can, at least once every second, to post and break this commandment by posting about other leaders who have not completed their tasks.
The committee reasoned that, while debating the Bill, it had been noted that “the information technology evolution had created a new medium of communication called social media that is not fully regulated in the existing laws, yet it is “the commonest platform of Computer Misuse.” The Computer Misuse Amendment Act thus added the offense of misusing social media. As a result, the committee decided it was appropriate to define and govern social media.
The ban on filming or recording somebody without their permission is one of this new law’s most contentious features.
