Tunisia has replaced prison time with fines for first-time offenders under a cybercrime decree that has sent journalists and activists to jail, in an amendment to the law known as Decree 54 that took effect on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.
Under the amended law, spreading “false news” and related violations now carry fines of 10,000 to 20,000 Tunisian dinars, roughly $3,370 to $6,740, for a first offense. The decree previously punished such offenses with up to five years in prison and a fine of 50,000 dinars, about $16,786, according to Xinhua. Repeat offenses can still bring prison sentences, the Anadolu Agency reported.
Decree 54 was issued in 2022 under President Kais Saied. Its Article 24 criminalizes using communication networks to produce or spread “false news, data, rumors” in ways deemed to harm others’ rights, public security or national defense, and the authorities have wielded it against critics, according to Human Rights Watch. Journalists, lawyers and political opponents of Mr. Saied have been prosecuted and jailed under the measure, rights groups have documented.
Rights groups said the amendment leaves the decree’s reach largely intact, Al Jazeera reported. Spreading what the authorities deem false information remains a criminal act, the fines now attached to it run to thousands of dollars in a country where most earn far less, and anyone convicted a second time can still be sent to prison.
The amendment’s text appeared in Tunisia’s official gazette on Wednesday and took effect the same day.