3 Oct 2016

Tonga looks at laws to curb cyber crime

7:49 am on 3 October 2016

Tonga's government will submit draft regulations to parliament to try and manage cyber crime in the country.

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Photo: Tonga Parliament

The chief executive of the Ministry of Information and Communications says the government faces many challenges in doing so.

Paula Ma'u said it was difficult to stop, censor or regulate information published on social media.

Despite this Mr Ma'u said the misuse of Facebook to defame others and to upload inappropriate videos needs to be addressed.

He told Radio Tonga the government is currently working with a team of officials from the Attorney General's Office and the Tonga to draft regulations to be submitted to Parliament, which is scheduled to resume today.

Tonga currently has the Computer Crimes Act 2003 but Mr Ma'u says additional regulations are required to combat cyber crime.

He also said the Government has already established the four-man Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT to improve cyber safety and halt crime.

CERT was recently given over 42 thousand US dollars worth of aid from the Information Society Innovation Fund Asia.

This assistance has been earmarked to provide computer equipment for the local CERT Office.