The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to gazette and table the revised Online Safety Bill in Parliament.
On par with the decision of the Supreme Court on the Online Safety draft bill and after it was passed in Parliament, the bill is currently effective as the Security of Online Methods Act No. 9 of 2024.
The government states prior to the bill being passed in Parliament, concerns were raised by experts in the field about amendments to certain sections of the bill, but there was no possibility of including such amendment proposals in the bill at the committee stage.
Therefore, approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting in February 2024 to prepare a draft bill to amend the Online Safety Bill with the said amendments.
Accordingly, clearance from the Attorney General has been received to the draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsman.
As such, the Cabinet has also approved the proposal forwarded by the Minister of State for Defence to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and subsequently present it to Parliament for approval. (Newswire)