I read on lexpress.mu that the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation while replying to a question in the parliament, informed the house that a “committee” has been set up comprising of the ICT Authority, the National Computer Board, the Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU) and the Cyber Crime Unit of the Police Force to find ways to prevent misuse of social media that could cause social unrest in Mauritius.

Mutual legal assistance

The Government of Mauritius will seek “mutual legal assistance” from the State of California to obtain information that will enable identification of people who post harmful and illegal content on Facebook. Such content can also be requested to be removed promptly.

The Minister in his answer quoted Section 18(1) of the ICT Act 2001 as amended:

“(…) take steps to regulate or curtail the harmful and illegal content on Internet and other information and communication services”

CERT-MU will be responsible to initiate the necessary procedures for “removal” of defamatory and hate comments. The Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation together with the Attorney General’s Office and State Law Office will “modify” the ICT Act to include the new regulations.

I posted a message on the Mauritius Internet Users mailing list to trigger the discussion.

The Minister’s full answer can be read from Hansard debate 33 of 2015.

On 11 September 2015, I wrote about my doubts on the Facebook information requests made by the “State of Mauritius” and methods of investigation practised.