August 30th, 2010 by Evan

Writing at Black Iris, Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah highlights issues with Jordan’s new cyber crimes law. According to Tarawnah, the law gives the Jordanian government new legal tools to repress free speech online including the ability to prosecute anyone sending information that “involves defamation or contempt or slander” and broad powers to search the homes and offices of those suspected of being involved in cyber crime. “Given the precedence of infringements on free speech in Jordan, one can safely assume that intent will be used more as a subjective legal tool to prosecute and convict, rather than protect the defendant,” writes Tarawnah. The cyber crime law is one of 34 temporary laws the Rifai government has attempted to pass since the Jordanian parliament was abolished in November 2009.

Posted in Jordan, Legislation, Reform, Technology |