Lower House rejects amended cybercrime draft law

The Lower House of Parliament rejected the Cybercrime draft law in a session held Tuesday, chaired by its Speaker Atef Tarawneh.

Last December, the government withdrew the bill from the Lower House's Legal Committee to amend the definition of hate speech as well as review article 11, which was not available for amendment under the previous draft law.

Hate speech, as defined by the government, means: "every writing and every speech or action intended to provoke sectarian or racial strife, or to incite conflict between sects and various elements of the nation."

The amendments, which will be referred to the Senate, also included the amending of Article (11) which stipulates an imprisonment of no less than three months and no more than two years on anyone who intentionally disseminates or retransmits data or information that defames, insults or denigrates any person on the internet or websites or any system of information. The penalty also include a fine between JD100 and JD2,000.

The bill was drafted due to the misuse of some communications platforms including social media and smartphone applications, the need to criminalize certain non-criminal acts under the implemented law, and to increase penalties on certain forms of criminal offenses in the law due to the increase in the number of cyber crimes committed.