Angola’s new law governing online disinformation has entered into force following its publication in the official gazette, the Diário da República, establishing a legal framework for preventing and penalising the production or dissemination of false information on the internet — commonly known as ‘fake news’ — with the stated aim of protecting personal reputation, privacy, the rights of children, the democratic process and state secrets.
The legislation applies to both individuals and legal entities operating within Angolan territory, but also extends to ‘acts committed outside the country, provided they target an audience within national territory’, though it does not specify the mechanisms through which it will be enforced in respect of content produced or hosted abroad.
Among its principal innovations, the law introduces into Angolan jurisprudence — for the first time — a series of formal definitions, including ‘disinformation’, ‘misleading content’, ‘manipulated content’, ‘impersonator content’, ‘deepfake’, ‘inauthentic accounts’, ‘artificial disseminators’ and ‘artificial dissemination networks’.
Beyond obligations placed on individual users, the law also sets out duties for the state itself, including the creation of reporting mechanisms and support for independent fact-checking. It further establishes new responsibilities for so-called ‘application providers’ — a category that encompasses digital platforms and social networks.
Those platforms will now be subject to transparency requirements, obliged to submit monthly compliance reports to the regulator, and required to adopt mechanisms designed to identify, restrict or remove content classified as false information.
The law establishes a dedicated sanctions regime, classifying infringements as minor, serious or very serious. Administrative fines may reach up to 200 national minimum wages for individuals and up to 400 national minimum wages for legal entities.
In addition to financial penalties, the legislation provides for ancillary sanctions, including the temporary suspension of activities, the closure of digital platforms, and 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 applicable sentences may be aggravated by up to half of the respective minimum and maximum limits.
The law does, however, carve out explicit protections: the expression of opinions, critical appraisal of public acts or policies, and satirical or parodic content are explicitly excluded from the definition of false information — unless accompanied by the falsification of facts and intent to deceive — in an effort to delineate the scope of the legislation.
The law was approved by the National Assembly with the votes in favour of the ruling MPLA, together with the PRS and PHA parties, and against the votes of UNITA, Angola’s main opposition party.
Multiple civil society groups and critics of the government have expressed concern over the potential impact on freedom of expression and press freedom, while the executive has defended the legislation as a necessary instrument for combating disinformation and protecting the democratic order.
Source: Notícias ao Minuto / Original article: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/3033112/lei-angolana-contra-fake-news-entra-em-vigor#utm_source=rss-mundo&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rssfeed
