Jordan's parliament passes controversial cybercrime law

Jordan’s lower house has passed cybercrime legislation that critics have warned will give authorities the power to suppress free speech, curb independent journalism, and punish "immoral behaviour" online. 

The bill passed through parliament after a six-hour debate on Thursday for which the Jordanian prime minister, Bisher al-Khasawneh, was present throughout.

"The bill has been passed by a clear majority," House Speaker Ahmed Safadi said after a show of hands from Jordanian MPs. 

The Lower House of the Parliament approved the Cybercrime Draft Law with no major changes. pic.twitter.com/C3Cxdt6ObM

— Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA) (@jo_osa) July 27, 2023

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Abu Zaid claimed in parliament that the law served the "higher national interest", despite it having faced major backlash from lawyers and activists, and opposition MPs. 

Human Rights Watch and other organisations released a statement saying the bill will "jeopardise digital rights… and will ultimately fail in achieving the Jordanian government’s stated goals of tackling disinformation, hate speech and online defamation". 

Khasawneh assured lawmakers that the government remains "completely open to any form of criticism" during the session. 

He stressed that the bill aims to extend the reach of the Jordanian penal code to the digital space, rather than diminish fundamental freedoms by introducing new regulation. 

But human rights activists maintain that Jordan's cybercrime law would be a major blow to freedom of expression.

The bill introduces criminal charges for behaviours such as "online character assassination" or using the internet to "undermine national unity".

Legal experts have said these new offences contain vague phrasing, giving authorities unprecedented power to crack down on free speech.

"This would be a huge step back for freedom of speech and expression, whether the law is used against social media users or against ordinary websites," Khaled Khlaifat, a Jordanian lawyer specialised in media and cybercrime law, told The New Arab.

The bill will now be scrutinised in the senate before it is passed up for royal assent.