Angola's law against false information on the internet entered into force on Thursday, extending its reach to content produced abroad that targets Angolan audiences and imposing new obligations on digital platforms operating in the country.
The legislation, published in the official gazette Diário da República and cited by Lusa, establishes the legal framework for preventive measures and accountability regarding the production or dissemination of false information online — commonly known as fake news. It aims to protect individuals' good name, honour, reputation, image, and privacy, as well as children's rights, the democratic process, and state secrecy.
The law applies to natural and legal persons on Angolan territory, but also to 'acts committed outside the country, provided they are directed at a target audience within national territory.' It does not, however, specify the mechanisms through which it will be enforced in relation to content produced or hosted outside Angola.
Among its most significant features, the legislation introduces for the first time into Angolan law a set of defined concepts including 'disinformation, misleading content, manipulated content, impersonation content, deepfakes, inauthentic accounts, artificial disseminators, and artificial dissemination networks.'
Beyond the obligations imposed on individual users, the law also establishes duties for the state — including the creation of reporting mechanisms and support for independent fact-checking — and sets out new responsibilities for so-called 'application providers,' a category that encompasses digital platforms and social networks.
Such platforms will now be subject to transparency requirements, monthly reporting obligations to the regulator on enforcement of the law, and the adoption of mechanisms designed to identify, limit, or remove content deemed to constitute false information.
The law also establishes a dedicated sanctions regime, classifying violations as minor, serious, or very serious. Administrative fines can reach up to 200 national minimum wages for natural persons and 400 national minimum wages for legal entities.
In addition to fines, the legislation provides for ancillary sanctions, including the temporary suspension of activities, the closure of digital platforms, or a ban of up to two years on participation in public procurement procedures in the telecommunications sector.
On the criminal side, the law establishes both civil and criminal liability, referring the offence of producing or disseminating false information to the Penal Code and stipulating that corresponding sentences may be increased by up to half of their respective minimum and maximum limits.
The legislation does, however, carve out exemptions: the expression of opinions, critical assessments of public acts or policies, and satirical or parodic content are explicitly excluded from the definition of false information — unless accompanied by fabrication of facts and intent to deceive — in an effort to delineate the scope of the new rules.
Several civil society sectors and critics of the government have expressed concern over the potential impact on freedom of expression and press freedom, while the executive argues that the legislation is a necessary instrument to combat disinformation and protect the democratic order.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/?p=528420
