Loi n° 2016-007 du 20 janvier 2016 relative à la cybercriminalité (Law on Cybercrime) (Mauritania)
mr-cyber-2016 · Act
Mauritania's Law No. 2016-007 of 20 January 2016 on cybercrime is the country's dedicated cybercrime statute. It assembles the legal provisions for regulating and suppressing offences linked to the use of information and communication technologies, protecting computer systems and data, criminalising content-related offences, and framing computer search and seizure for the purpose of securing evidence in digital form. The substantive offences protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer systems and data, covering illegal access, interference with systems and data, and related computer fraud and forgery, and extend to content and privacy offences. Notably, the law criminalises the unlawful seizure of identity and abuse of the right to privacy, as well as the unauthorised recording and dissemination of images, text or sound. These provisions have drawn attention for their potential reach over online expression and privacy in a restrictive media environment. Procedurally, the law provides a framework for computer search and seizure and for obtaining and preserving electronic evidence, equipping investigators and prosecutors to handle digital material. It also addresses cooperation in the investigation of transnational cyber offences. Enforcement falls to the judicial authorities and the relevant cybersecurity and telecommunications bodies; the supervising ministry responsible for digital transition publishes the official text. The cybercrime law predates and operates alongside Mauritania's data protection statute, Law No. 2017-020 of 22 July 2017, together forming the core of the country's digital legal framework. Digital-rights dimension (June 2026 sweep): the law's content offences have a documented and significant effect on online expression. Article 21 criminalises the publication of photos, text, audio or other content deemed to prejudice 'Islamic values', a term left undefined, and the statute is also used to prosecute online insult of the President. It has been invoked to convict and detain bloggers and social-media users: blogger Mohamed Vall Abdallah received a one-year suspended sentence and a fine in December 2023 for insulting the President, and other users (e.g. Eby ould Zeidane) have faced charges under Article 21, alongside blasphemy charges, for Facebook posts. A separate 2020 law on 'false publication' further criminalised the dissemination of false information online amid a crackdown on online dissent (precise reference flagged for reviewer). Internet shutdowns, a roughly ten-day nationwide cut after the disputed June 2019 presidential election, and a March 2023 mobile-internet shutdown following a prison break, were imposed on public-security grounds without a publicly disclosed digital-rights-specific legal basis, and are noted as a jurisdiction-level gap that may belong under Telecoms. Source language: French (Arabic original).
- Mauritania's dedicated cybercrime statute, adopted 20 January 2016
- Substantive offences protecting confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer systems and data: illegal access, system and data interference, computer-related fraud and forgery
- Content and privacy offences: unlawful seizure of identity, abuse of the right to privacy, and unauthorised recording or dissemination of images, text or sound
- Digital-rights concern: Article 21 criminalises online content deemed to prejudice undefined 'Islamic values'; used (with insult-of-the-President and blasphemy charges) to prosecute and detain bloggers and social-media users (e.g. Mohamed Vall Abdallah, December 2023)
- Procedural framework for computer search and seizure and the preservation of electronic evidence
- Provisions addressing cooperation in transnational cyber investigations
- Context: 2019 (post-election, ~10 days) and 2023 (post prison-break) internet shutdowns imposed on security grounds without a disclosed digital-rights-specific legal basis; a 2020 'false publication' law flagged for reviewer
- Operates alongside Mauritania's data protection law (Law No. 2017-020 of 22 July 2017); official text published by the supervising ministry, original adopted in French and Arabic