Cameroon Policies Affecting Disinformation

From ADTAC Disinformation Inventory

Legislation

Cameroon has two laws that restrict disinformation Law N°2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime in Cameroon and Law N°2016/007 of 12 July 2016 on the Penal Code.

Within the 2010 Law, Section 78(1) criminalizes using electronic communications to “publish or propagate a piece of information without being able to attest its veracity or prove that the said piece of information was true”.[1]

The 2016 law makes it illegal to report “any news without being able to prove either its truth or that he had good reason to believe it to be true”.[2] It also covers “false information liable to injure public authorities or national unity”[3]. These laws have been criticized as ill-defined in scope.

Penal action

A number of journalists have been arrested for spreading "false news"[4]. In 2018 Cameroon jailed the second-most journalists in the world for misinformation.

Platform cooperation

Officials in the Cameroonian government have met with representatives from Facebook to discuss disinformation and cybersecurity.[5]

Disinformation accusations used to discredit media

In 2020 the Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji accused NGOs and domestic media of publishing false information about the Anglophone Crisis.[6]

Private actions against disinformation

During COVID-19 a number of prominent figures in both medicine and technology have taken to the internet to provide accurate information.[7]

See more:

National Policies Affecting Disinformation