Law No. 5 of 2022 regarding Combating Cybercrimes (قانون رقم 5 لسنة 2022 بشأن مكافحة الجرائم الإلكترونية) (Libya)

Law No. 5 of 2022 on Combating Cybercrimes, issued on 27 September 2022, is Libya's first comprehensive dedicated cybercrime statute. It provides a legal framework to define cybercrimes and prescribe deterrent penalties, with stated objectives of achieving justice and information security, protecting public order and public morals, safeguarding the national economy and the rights arising from lawful use of modern technology, and enhancing public trust in the safety of electronic transactions. It defines cybercrime broadly as any act committed using computer systems, the international information network, or any other information-technology means in violation of the law, and supplies definitions for related terms such as hacking, electronic piracy and computer viruses. The law has an expansive jurisdictional scope: its provisions apply where all or part of the acts are committed within Libya, and also where acts are committed wholly outside Libya but their results or effects extend into Libya, even if the act is not punishable in the place where it was committed. Substantively, it criminalises unlawful access to information-technology means by exploiting security vulnerabilities, unlawful interception of information systems, and conduct aimed at obtaining digital data or connecting unlawfully with other electronic systems. It also criminalises a range of content offences, including the publication of pornographic material online, incitement to sexual activity, and the dissemination of manipulated (“photoshopped”) pornographic images, the last attracting markedly heavier penalties. Penalties range from short custodial terms and modest fines for certain unauthorised-access offences (imprisonment up to one year or a fine of 100 to 500 Libyan dinars) to substantially heavier sanctions for interception (imprisonment of at least one year with fines of 1,000 to 5,000 dinars) and for serious content offences (fines of 1,000 to 10,000 dinars and, for manipulated pornographic images, imprisonment of not less than five years). Enforcement and oversight are vested in the Libyan National Authority for Information Security and Safety, which is empowered to monitor material published or displayed through the international information network or other technical systems and to block or prevent access to websites and pages displaying pornographic or immoral material or promoting prostitution or immorality. Because the law combines cyber-dependent offences with broad content-control and monitoring powers, it has a significant digital-rights dimension and has been criticised by Human Rights Watch and ARTICLE 19 as a threat to freedom of expression and privacy, with documented arrests under its provisions.

1. 1Libya's first comprehensive dedicated cybercrime law (issued 27 September 2022), defining cybercrime broadly and setting deterrent penalties
2. 2Defines key terms (hacking, electronic piracy, computer virus) and asserts extraterritorial jurisdiction where effects extend into Libya, even if lawful where committed
3. 3Criminalises unlawful access via security vulnerabilities and unlawful interception of information systems to obtain digital data or connect with other systems
4. 4Criminalises content offences including online pornography, incitement to sexual activity, and manipulated pornographic images (the latter punishable by ≥ 5 years' imprisonment)
5. 5Graduated penalties from short imprisonment/fines of 100 - 500 LYD for access offences up to fines of 1,000 - 10,000 LYD for serious content offences
6. 6Vests monitoring, blocking and enforcement powers in the National Authority for Information Security and Safety; criticised by HRW and ARTICLE 19 for free-expression impact