By Peter Binose

The RSF wrote a letter to PM Dr Ralph E Gonsalves and also to MP and Minister for Information [his eldest son] Camillio Gonsalves.

The contents of that damning letter cloaked in niceties was made public by a press release.

The press statement has since gone viral. In terms of the Internet, this press release spread just like a virus and people and media Worldwide became “infected” when they saw it. But some of that I am sure is because RSF have become so important on the World stage that almost everything they write goes viral.

Think about it. When you share something online, you do it because it moved you in some way, emotionally. Whether it made you sad, happy, angry, surprised, disgusted with an evil situation or anything else—you share it because you want other people to share those feelings with you. In the case of article 16 in the SVG Cyber Crime Bill it was so obvious to all that read it the evil it contains in its present form that they read it and passed it on. The truth is the clause referred to #16 is believed by those that know Ralph Gonsalves is to be included in the Bill to protect him from continuing public outcry for alleged sex crimes by him which have gone unheard and unjudged in any court and also the current outcry regarding the rigging of the 2015 General Elections. There are so many things that people want to write about in SVG and online internationally about the goings on in SVG, that article 16 would act as an effective gag, both on the media and in general the people.

The ‘Council of Europe’ a part of the European Union made some recommendations as early as 2007 that obviously would have been considered by RSF when writing their letter to the Gonsalves duo.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Respect for media freedom
Referring to Resolution 1577 [2007] “Towards decriminalization of defamation”, the Assembly reaffirms that defamation and insult laws must not be used to silence critical comment and irony in the media. The reputation of a nation, the military, historic figures or a religion cannot and must not be protected by defamation or insult laws.
Governments and parliaments should clearly and openly reject false notions of national interest evoked against the work of journalists. Nationalism must never again become the misguided reason for killing journalists, or depriving them of their rights or liberty.
The Assembly notes with concern that excessive sanctions have been imposed on media outlets. Government members and parliamentarians should not use their political influence to silence critical media, but engage in a constructive debate through all media.

In 2007 Europe abandoned all laws regarding criminal defamation and the United Kingdom being part of the EU did so as well. But not in SVG because the outdated and draconian criminal defamation law is liked by Ralph Gonsalves and he is a supporter and litigatory user of the very same law in SVG. Now to compound what I will describe as Gonsalves love for criminal defamation laws he has had a form of it included in the SVG Cyber Crime Bill. But it is an even nastier version, an evil version, a version that made this matter go viral. In the Cyber Crime Bill you go to prison and are fined $200,000 even if what you write is true. Because if the person you write about has their feelings hurt by what you write, or are embarrassed by what you write, that is an offence no matter that it is true. Perhaps you can now understand why the Region and now the World see this Bill as evil.

According to RSF Clause 16 also defines cyberbullying as using “a computer system repeatedly or continuously to convey information which causes fear, intimidation, humiliation, distress or other harm to another person; or detriment to another person’s health, emotional well-being, self-esteem or reputation.”

RSF went on to say “This language remains subjective and could be broadly interpreted in a manner that negatively impacts the free flow of information”.

For those of you who have not been privy to the Press Release here it is again

Source: Reporters Without Borders – Press Releases/Statement:

Headline: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Prime Minister and Minister of Information urged to revise Cybercrime bill

Washington, DC July 27, 2016

Dear Prime Minister Gonsalves,

Dear Minister of Information Gonsalves,

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international organization that defends freedom of information, would like to express to you its concern about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Cybercrime Bill currently being debated in Parliament.

We do not dispute the principle of this law or some of its provisions. The Internet should not escape the authority of the law altogether and we believe that it is perfectly legitimate to sanction such crimes and offences as the theft of documents or data, online identity theft, cyberbullying or, even more serious, child pornography.

However, we regard some of the clauses in this bill extremely damaging to the free flow of news and information and to public debate.

For example, Section 16 (2) of Part II incorporates criminal libel, which is already a criminal offence in Section 274 of the criminal code.

Section 16 (3) states: “A person who, intentionally or recklessly uses a computer system to disseminate any information, statement or image; and exposes the private affairs of another person, thereby subjecting that other person to public ridicule, contempt, hatred or embarrassment, commits an offence.” Offenders can be sentenced to up to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or pay a fine of 200,000 East Caribbean dollars.

Under what criteria can information be considered to expose “private affairs” of another person regardless of factual accuracy (which this subsection refrains from mentioning)? This provision could very easily constitute an obstacle to the dissemination of information of public interest. It could, for example, provide any demonstrably corrupt public figure with a strong argument for refusing to be held accountable.

Clause 16 also defines cyberbullying as using “a computer system repeatedly or continuously to convey information which causes fear, intimidation, humiliation, distress or other harm to another person; or detriment to another person’s health, emotional well-being, self-esteem or reputation.”This language remains subjective and could be broadly interpreted in a manner that negatively impacts the free flow of information.

We are also concerned about the range of the bill’s applicability. Clause 31 of Part III states that“an act [constituting an offence] is carried out in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines if the effect of the act, or the damage resulting from the act, occurs within Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.”

Here again, the lack of precision about the nature of the effect to which this clause refers could result in significant obstacles to freedom of information.

The danger posed by these provisions is, in our view, all the greater because the law gives the police and judicial authorities a great deal of scope to access the personal data of someone who is being investigated.

Furthermore, RSF considers criminal defamation to have a chilling effect on freedom of the press and freedom of expression and has repeatedly urged countries to decriminalize this offense.

For all these reasons, we urge you not to pass this bill into law in its present form and to amend the most sensitive clauses. We also urge you to amend the criminal code in order to de-criminalize defamation.

We thank you in advance for the attention you give to this letter.

Sincerely,

Delphine Halgand

US Director, Reporters Without Borders

END

DISCLAIMER: The opinion, belief and viewpoint expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinion, belief and viewpoint of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com or official policies of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com

IMAGE: logo Reporters Without Borders