THE Guyana Government is examining recent court rulings in several United States (U.S.) states involving social media giant Meta, including cases in which the company was ordered to pay billions of dollars in compensation, as it works towards developing a legislative framework to regulate local social media.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, on Thursday said the government has obtained the relevant court rulings and court proceedings and is examining the legal principles arising from the cases to help inform Guyana’s approach to social-media regulation.
“We have the rulings from the court, and we are drawing from them the relevant legal principles. We even have the court proceedings that were filed, so we can understand the way that the issues were formulated and placed before the court,” Nandlall said.
The review of the Meta litigation forms part of a wider effort to develop what Nandlall described as a modern, comprehensive and transparent regulatory framework that reflects the realities of social media.
He disclosed that a law firm in the United Kingdom (UK) has also been instructed to examine different social-media regulatory models implemented in various parts of the world.
The UK firm is expected to identify relevant principles and concepts from those models and formulate a draft framework for consideration by the Guyanese authorities.
The AG said, “We have a law firm in the United Kingdom who has been instructed to review different models that have been implemented in different parts of the world and extract relevant principles and relevant concepts and formulate a draft which we will look at.”
Guyana is also drawing on work being undertaken at the regional level.
Nandlall said Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government had commissioned an initiative to explore a legislative and regulatory framework for social media across the region, and Guyana has received a draft produced by the consultant engaged for that exercise.
However, Nandlall stressed that the proposed regulations must not come at the expense of citizens’ constitutional rights.
He said particular care must be taken to ensure that any measures introduced do not infringe the constitutional right to freedom of expression or other liberties guaranteed to Guyanese.
“You don’t want any measure that will, in any form or fashion, infringe the constitutional right of expression and other liberties guaranteed to the citizens of Guyana,” he said.
According to him, the challenge will be to strike a balance between addressing the harmful conduct or other problems that regulation is intended to prevent and protecting the freedoms and liberties of individuals.
He added, “We have to be careful that we strike a balance that accords with the mischief that we are trying to prevent, as well as the freedoms and liberties of the individual.”
The Attorney General did not disclose when the proposed legislation is expected to be completed or presented to the National Assembly, but said the review of international models and legal developments is continuing.
The move comes amid growing international scrutiny of the responsibilities of social media companies and the potential impact of online platforms on users, especially children, as governments around the world seek to determine how best to address harmful online activities while preserving freedom of expression.
Nandlall said Guyana’s objective is to establish a framework that is responsive to the modern realities of social media, while ensuring that individual rights and freedoms remain protected.
Guyana is studying US litigation involving Meta, international regulatory models and a CARICOM framework as it develops new legislation governing social media, with the government’s broader plans including proposals to restrict social-media access for children under 16 and establish a dedicated Child Online Protection Authority.
The Child Online Protection Authority will be a dedicated body that would be responsible for monitoring online threats, conducting public awareness campaigns, overseeing compliance, supporting research and coordinating international co-operation on child-online safety issues.