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D’ICTA-TU-RE: Mozilla et Google rejoignent la longue liste des contestataires

13 mai 2021, 12:09

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D’ICTA-TU-RE: Mozilla et Google rejoignent la longue liste des contestataires

À sept jours de la fin des consultations publiques concernant les propositions d'amendements à  l’Information and Communication Technologies Act (ICTA), l'autorité concernée continue de recevoir des mises en garde. Cette fois-ci, de Google et Mozilla qui ont publié un communiqué conjoint contre le filtrage sur les réseaux sociaux, hier mercredi 12 mai. L'organisation Centre for Law & Democracy s'y est mise aussi. 

En tout cas, la liste des opposants aux amendements proposés par l'ICTA s'allonge. Ils se mobilisent tous pour dénoncer l’approche du gouvernement qui veut contrôler ce qui se passe sur les réseaux sociaux en mettant en place un système de filtrage.


 

Mauritius: Proposals to Monitor and Control All Social Media Traffic Very Repressive

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Press

12 May 2021. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) is releasing two documents analysing, respectively, Mauritius’ Information and Communication Technologies Act 2001 (ICT Act) and recently proposed amendments to that Act. The first is a Note highlighting current human rights problems with the ICT Act, including the lack of independence of media regulators and overbroad content restrictions. The second was submitted in response to the Consultation Paper on Proposed Amendments to the ICT Act for Regulating the Use and Addressing the Abuse and Misuse of Social Media in Mauritius (Consultation Paper), issued by the Mauritian Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) on 14 April 2021.

The ICT Act already imposes undue restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and privacy but the new proposals, if implemented, would represent a flagrant violation of these rights for every Mauritian who uses social media,” said Toby Mendel, CLD’s Executive Director. “Mauritian authorities should abandon these drastic proposals and instead address the underlying human rights problems with the ICT Act.”

The 14 April 2021 proposals would require all social media traffic to and from Mauritius to be routed through a proxy server run by the ICTA, and establish systems to break any encryption provided by social media platforms and conduct official surveillance of all of this traffic. The goal is to enforce existing (very problematical) content restrictions in the ICT Act and to add new responsive measures, including widespread powers to block offending social media pages and content. Implementation would be done by a technical enforcement agency operating under the ICTA, which is not independent of government, and a new content-adjudication agency, which is also unlikely to be independent.

CLD’s submission debunks the misleading justifications provided by the ICTA for these drastic proposals and makes several key recommendations, including to:

  • Abandon these extreme proposals and, instead, focus on working more closely with social media platforms, and building the capacity of the people and institutions of Mauritius to address problems flowing from social media.
    • Ensure that any regulatory bodies which have the power to regulate freedom of expression, whether new or existing, benefit from both formal and structural protections against political and commercial interference.

CLD’s key recommendations for improving the current ICT Act include:

  • Enhance the independence and diversity of the four regulatory and advisory bodies it creates.
    • Amend the licensing scheme which regulates too many services, has vague criteria for the issuance and removal of licences, and authorises intrusive search powers.
    • Remove or substantially amend the numerous vague and overbroad content and other offences which criminalise everyday speech and behaviour, and can result in fines of up to USD25,000 and ten years’ imprisonment.

The submission on the 14 April 2021 Consultation Paper is available here.

The Note that assesses the existing ICT Act can be found here.

For further information, please contact:

J.Y. Hoh
Legal Officer
Centre for Law and Democracy
Email: jyhoh@law-democracy.org
+1 416 833 2918
www.law-democracy.org
twitter: @law_democracy


 

Defending users’ security in Mauritius

<address>Marshall Erwin&nbsp;</address>
<time datetime="2021-05-12T21:00:14-08:00">May 12, 2021</time></header>

Yesterday, Mozilla and Google filed a joint submission to the public consultation on amending the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Act organised by the Government of Mauritius. Our submission states that the proposed changes would disproportionately harm the security of Mauritian users on the internet and should be abandoned. Mozilla believes that individuals’ security and privacy on the internet are fundamental and must not be treated as optional. The proposals under these amendments are fundamentally incompatible with this principle and would fail to achieve their projected outcomes.

Under Section 18(m) of the proposed changes, the ICTA could deploy a “new technical toolset” to intercept, decrypt, archive and then inspect/block https traffic between a local user’s Internet device and internet services, including social media platforms.

In their current form, these measures will place the privacy and security of internet users in Mauritius at grave risk. The blunt and disproportionate action will allow the government to decrypt, read and store anything a user types or posts on the internet, including intercepting their account information, passwords and private messages. While doing little to address the legitimate concerns of content moderation in local languages, it will undermine the trust of the fundamental security infrastructure that currently serves as the basis for the security of at least 80% of websites on the web that use HTTPS, including those that carry out e-commerce and other critical financial transactions.

When similarly dangerous mechanisms have been abused in the past, whether by known-malicious parties, business partners such as a computer or device manufacturer, or a government entity, as browser makers we have taken steps to protect and secure our users and products.

In our joint submission to the on-going public consultation, Google and Mozilla have urged the Authority not to pursue this approach. Operating within international frameworks for cross-border law enforcement cooperation and enhancing communication with industry can provide a more promising path to address the stated concerns raised in the consultation paper. We remain committed to working with the Government of Mauritius to address the underlying concerns in a manner that does not harm the privacy, security and freedom of expression of Mauritians on the internet.