A group of human rights defenders has called for the reviews of the Cybercrime Act, 2015 and the Tanzanian Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2020.

The non-governmental organisations (NGO), including Haki Maendeleo, said the country needed to review the laws with a view to enhancing and protecting the rights of internet users.

The Cybercrimes Act, for instance, makes provisions for criminalising offences related to computer systems and Information Communication Technologies; and provides for investigation, collection, and use of electronic evidence in the country.

‘We have laws, but due to technological advances, people are increasingly becoming victims of the internet for various reasons’, Haki Maendeleo representative, Wilfred Warioba, said at a meeting that brought together human rights defenders in Dodoma.

‘We want the internet to be used for development and not to be abused.

‘That is why we want the authorities to understand that the internet is also part of human rights’.

Director of Legal Service Department at the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRGG), Nabo Asay, said that gender stereotyping and male chauvinism had affected the promotion of human rights.

Asay said people must fully utilise the internet, especially social media networks, to address gender-based violence.

‘We are witnessing a growing trend of abuse of internet platforms. It is high time people stopped it’, he said.

Asay also said social media had become powerful and hence there was a need to ensure it was not abused.

Also speaking, a member of the Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA), Penina Robert, stressed the need to continuously engage in discussions tied to human rights.

Robert said there were many cases of internet-related abuse and violence despite efforts by both state and non-state actors to end the menace.

Source: Daily News

Photo source: Erik (HASH) Hersman