Cameroon Policies Affecting Disinformation
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
- ↑ https://www.disinformationtracker.org/
- ↑ https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/anti-misinformation-actions/
- ↑ https://www.disinformationtracker.org/
- ↑ https://cpj.org/2019/06/critical-cameroonian-journalist-detained-on-crimin/
- ↑ https://www.crtv.cm/2018/08/government-officials-and-facebook-team-discuss-ways-to-check-cyber-crimes/
- ↑ https://www.disinformationtracker.org/
- ↑ https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/cameroon-social-media-used-fight-misinformation