Disputes regarding the Information Crimes Law and a movement to amend some of its paragraphs

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[size=52]Disputes regarding the Information Crimes Law and a movement to amend some of its paragraphs[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Hussein Hatem[/size]
[size=45]The Information Crimes Law faces disagreements within Parliament between rejection and acceptance, and many remarks on its listed paragraphs, as some deputies seek to proceed with the law and vote on it during the current session to “protect society from extremism,” while another section believes that the law will be tantamount to muzzling “mouths and freedoms.” ".[/size]
[size=45]Last week, the House of Representatives put forward a bill on information crimes for the first reading, as the internal system of Parliament requires that any bill obtain three readings that include discussions of its provisions, before going to a session to vote on it.[/size]
[size=45]The law has been in Parliament since 2011, and it has been met with great rejection and objections by activists and civil forces, because it contains paragraphs and clauses that were considered subject to interpretation and limit freedom of expression, and these objections led to the postponement of the decision on the draft more than once over the past electoral cycles.[/size]
[size=45]A member of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, Ahmed Rahim Al-Moussawi, said, "Our committee is determined to pass the Cybercrime Law during the current parliamentary session to protect society from terrorist ideas and extremism."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Moussawi added, "The draft law will not target freedom of expression or restrict personal opinions and ideas, as is rumored, but rather pursue fake pages that promote, directly or indirectly, the destruction and dismantling of society and creating chaos in all fields."[/size]
[size=45]A member of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee pointed out, “Most communication sites have become very dangerous, which negatively affected wide social segments, most notably adolescents and boys, and pushed them to unacceptable and disruptive behaviors, most notably suicide, drugs, and others.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Moussawi explained that “the absence of censorship and deterrent measures against the poisoned black pages is one of the main reasons for the escalation of electronic extortion crimes in the country.”[/size]
[size=45]In turn, independent MP Sajjad Salem says, "There are observations and rejections by many parliamentarians, especially independents, regarding the cybercrime law."[/size]
[size=45]Salem explained that “the law should not have its primary goal to threaten freedom of expression and silence mouths, which we will not allow.”[/size]
[size=45]The member of the House of Representatives indicated that “independent representatives object to the draft law and will work to amend some of its paragraphs before enacting it,” adding: “We will not be part of the legislation of any law that threatens freedoms and suppresses voices calling for change and exposing corruption.”[/size]
[size=45]Salem pointed out, "Some paragraphs of the law violate the Iraqi constitution, which grants the citizen freedom of expression, as well as restricts the work of the media in obtaining information," noting, "The law in its current form will meet with great political and popular rejection during the next stage."[/size]
[size=45]For her part, Member of Parliament Sarwa Abdel Wahed stated in a tweet, “The draft information crimes law needs several steps to be beneficial. Electronic armies, therefore, the law in its current form is rejected and restricts freedoms.[/size]
[size=45]The Information Crimes Law includes more than 20 articles under which several paragraphs have been included, all of which stipulate varying penalties of up to 30 years in prison, and financial fines amounting to 100 million Iraqi dinars (about 69 thousand dollars). The state.[/size]
[size=45]Among the most prominent criticisms of the proposed law is granting the authorities the possibility of prosecuting bloggers on issues such as creating electronic accounts with names other than the real names of their owners, not distinguishing between criticism and insulting of public figures and institutions, as well as restricting access to information and the right to publish it, especially with regard to corruption cases. The proposed law also requires those who want to demonstrate to notify the authorities at least a day in advance and to wait for approval or not, with penalties for violators.[/size]
[size=45]In May 2021, Human Rights Watch issued a statement saying that the House of Representatives decided not to proceed with presenting the draft cybercrime law, after a meeting with Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi with a number of ambassadors of foreign countries and representatives of various international and human rights organizations, and the organization considered this as “ It represents a victory for freedom of expression on the Internet in Iraq.”[/size]
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