Home Affairs Minister Issues Cyberbullying Warning Following Viral Videos

Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, has weighed in on the videos that went viral over the weekend.  Musa issued a stern reminder to the public that cyberbullying is a crime and that parties found guilty could face imprisonment for five years.  He noted that the even private sharing in WhatsApp and other platforms could be liable to criminal charges.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs: “Firstly, let me join the Commissioner of Police I know he released a statement on social media warning members of the general public against cyber bullying. We must understand that this is now an offense. a criminal offense by virtue of the Cybercrime Act of 2020. I believe it is section 15 of the Cybercrime Act, which speaks to sharing and publishing videos, photographs of a lewd and indecent nature with an aim to humiliate individuals. That particular offense under the Cybercrime Act, I believe carries with it a prison term of five years in addition to a fine I believe of five or ten thousand dollars and so we have to be very mindful of that because whether you’re sharing that by way of Facebook, by way of WhatsApp, something as simple as just hitting the share button on WhatsApp you become liable to be charged under this cybercrime act and so yes you have to look at the person or persons who originally shared this video but also those individuals who continue to perpetrate the crime by sharing it and so the offense continues. And so I want to ask members of the public to be respectful. These young ladies have family members. This is very concerning. This is very disturbing and so we have to be mindful of a society, the type of damage that we are causing and to be mindful of the fact that this now bears criminal liability. So if you are publishing any material, so if you’re taking some of that material and making memes with it and then sharing it you are still continuing to perpetrate that crime. And so those individuals sharing memes are likewise susceptible to be charged. They are likewise offending under the Cybercrime Act because they’re using material in order to humiliate. They’re using the cyberspace meaning you’re using your devices, whether it’s a phone or a computer, to share these memes that are aimed at humiliating individuals. That is an offense. So whether it forms part of the original video or photographs or it is converted thereafter into a meme, that is still committing an offense.”

Musa said that the police department has a cybercrimes unit, tasked with investigating cases where persons have been humiliated and bullied online. He called on those who have been victims of such to make a report to the unit. Musa also spoke on a disgusting video that surfaced this weekend where an eight-year-old girl was instructed to perform sexual acts on her.  

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs: “We do have a cybercrime unit that is dedicated to this. It will require of course someone coming forward to make a complaint. I know that there are a lot of young ladies who are affected by virtue of the release of these videos and so any one of them I want to encourage them to come forward if it is that they feel offended, if it is that they feel humiliated that they come forward and make a report and we will try our very best, the police at the cybercrime unit, to identify those individuals who are sharing. Because like I said, it’s been shared so many times, so many individuals can be charged for this offense.”

Reporter: Are police are also investigating another video which showed, I guess, sexual abuse towards a child.”

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs: “Yes, I asked the commissioner about that when I was informed of the video and he had indicated that I think it was on Saturday or Sunday right after the video was published, the individual in that video, the alleged individual because no faces are shown in that video but the individual that is suspected to be in that video was picked up and detained by the police, I believe, down south.”

The video was reportedly taken in Dangriga.