DUE to concerns arising with regards to the sedition clause within the Cyber Crime Bill currently before the National Assembly, the Government will be “taking a second look” into the choice of wording within the bill.

Assurance of this came from Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan on Friday, during a press conference hosted by the Alliance for Change (AFC) at its headquarters in Georgetown.

Much debate have arisen from Clause 18.1 of the Bill, which states that a person can commit an offence of sedition through publication, transmission, online circulation or any other means such as a statement or words, either spoken or written, a text, video, image, sign, visible representation, or other thing.

Ramjattan, Chairman of the AFC, acknowledged that the formulation of certain words within Section 18: 1 of the Bill, has also caused concern by some members within the AFC party leadership

He explained that along with himself, members from the party including Michael Carrington and Audwin Rutherford were a part of the Special Select Committee examining the Bill.
But although the representatives had once approved of the proposed legislation, concerns that are now surfacing suggest that the necessary persons “will have to take a second look at that wording.”

Ramjattan said that though many are concerned that the Bill will pose a threat to press freedom,this is far from the truth.

“I want to make it clear that those who indicated as if we are affecting freedom of expression; I have written major pieces on freedom of expression within the press…and it is not in any way going to affect it.

“That is why we were very cautious, although we have a Section 18: 1 that says sedition by use of computers or Facebook and internet is an offence, we also have a paragraph 18:4 (b) that says criticism of the Government, criticism of any minister and even wanting to lawfully change the Government does not constitute the offence of sedition,” he said.
The public security minister said, too, that with this inclusion, at the time it was believed that all possible concerns were covered but due to recent alarms, the government will look into the matter.

He dispelled myths that a sedition law is bad, stating that it is a “good tool to have in an executive branch” and is common to many countries across the world helping to protect against violent and hateful actions.

“Sedition… is an offence that goes to the heart of civil strife in your country and people publishing letters and all of that, to ensure that there is civil disorder. It’s a part of American law, it is a part of the law of most Commonwealth countries,” he remarked.
He said, further, that the existing sedition law does not cover the issue of online activity and must be put in place to protect against same.

“When you go on a public platform and you get your microphone and you start causing civil stress, or if you write things in the newspapers that can cause civil strife and disorder.
“But when you write it inside of Facebook or by use of a computer, that ingredient is what we now want to capture…we have a lot of things that are presently the law but if you do them on cyber space you can’t charge people, ” the minister explained.

Speaking too, AFC Executive Member and Minister of Public Telecommunication, Cathy Hughes said the contentions with the Bill which was in a Select Committee since 2016, should have been brought up earlier, especially by the Opposition.

“Every single organisation that has concerns regarding the current design of the Bill and the contents had an opportunity to write to the Parliamentary Select Committee, and to ask to go in and to make a presentation to the committee,” she commented.

“Why aren’t we, as a country, as civil society, as non-government organisations (NGOs), going through the proper channels of presenting any kind of concern you have, because the channels exist.”

When passed into law, the Bill is geared towards creating offences out of actions of a cyber nature, making provision for penalties, investigation and prosecution on those in breach of the law.