Tunisian President Kais Saied has amended the country’s controversial 2022 cybercrime law, removing prison sentences for first-time offences involving the deliberate publication or spread of false information online. The amendment, published in Tunisia’s Official Gazette on Wednesday, replaces the previous five-year prison sentence with a fine of between 10,000 and 20,000 Tunisian dinars. Repeat offenders can face up to six months in prison and a 50,000-dinar fine. Penalties are doubled when the alleged victim is a public official. The changes affect Article 24 of Decree-Law 54, introduced in September 2022 to combat offences involving information and communication systems. The original provision allowed prison terms of up to five years for spreading what authorities considered false news or rumors, rising to 10 years when a public official was targeted.
Rights groups and press-freedom organizations have repeatedly criticized the law, arguing that its broad wording has been used against journalists, activists and political opponents. Reporters Without Borders said the removal of the five-year sentence was a step forward but maintained that the revised law still does not fully meet international press-freedom standards. The amendment comes amid wider concerns over freedoms in Tunisia since Saied took sweeping executive powers in 2021, including suspending parliament and later replacing the 2014 constitutional framework. Human Rights Watch has documented increased prosecutions and detentions involving political opponents, journalists and critics since then. The revised law leaves financial penalties in place and retains prison sentences for repeat offences, meaning the legal debate over freedom of expression in Tunisia is likely to continue.
