Draft Cybercrime Law - Jordan

By: Mahmoud Lattouf
General Manager

July 18th 2023

The Jordanian government submitted the draft cybercrime law to the House of Representatives earlier this week. The House will now deliberate on the law, propose amendments, and vote on whether to approve it. If the House approves the law, it will then be sent to the Senate for debate and vote. The House of Senate should approve it, before it could be approved by HM The King to become a law.

The draft law introduces more stringent financial penalties for cybercrimes. In 2022 alone, there were a staggering 16,000 cybercrime-related complaints registered in Jordan. This number has increased by 8,000 in the first half of this year. The government believes that the introduction of more stringent penalties will help to deter cybercrime and protect Jordanian citizens. Jordan’s population stands at 11 million, with Internet penetration of 88%.

Here are some key provisions of the draft cybercrime law:
-Increased financial penalties: The draft law introduces more stringent financial penalties for cybercrimes. 
-New offenses: The draft law also introduces a number of new offenses, such as the promotion of child pornography, impersonation, spreading of hate speech, and the creation of fake news websites.
-Increased powers for law enforcement: The draft law gives law enforcement agencies increased powers to investigate and prosecute cybercrimes. This includes the power to access and seize electronic data, and the power to track down and identify cybercriminals.
-Protection of privacy: The draft law also includes provisions to protect the privacy of individuals. This includes the requirement for law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before they can access electronic data.
-The draft law requires social media companies with userbase of more than 100,000 subscribers in Jordan to establish an office in the Kingdom. If these companies do not comply within a certain period, government through Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) can block ads on these platforms and restrict access through gradual reduction of bandwidth to access these platforms.

The draft law has been met with mixed reactions. Some people believe that the law is necessary to deter cybercrime and protect Jordanian citizens. Others are concerned that the law is too broad and could be used to restrict freedom of expression. 

It is worth noting that these provisions are part of the draft law, which is subject to amendments as it has not been approved yet. We will publish the full approved law on AGIP website once approved.