Officials say this law is about online safety. Experts say it’s a Trojan horse for internet censorship

(CNN) The men passed the link between them, sharing it over email and instant messages. It was to a public Dropbox folder, containing hundreds of nude and intimate images of women, mostly students at the Fiji campus of the University of the South Pacific. News of the folder’s existence was broken by the Fiji Sun, which later carried an interview with a victim in which she spoke of being harassed on both social media and offline over photos taken with an ex-boyfriend. She had considered suicide. More coverage followed, sparking what the Sun described as a “nationwide debate on cyber laws.” Government ministers called for swift action to protect Fijians online -- and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum delivered, introducing the Online Safety Bill to Parliament and calling for its passage to be fast-tracked. In May 2018, after an unusually short twomonth public consultation, the bill was passed into law, becoming the Online Safety Act 2018. Only government lawmakers voted in favor of the new law, with every opposi- tion lawmaker voting against it. Under the new law, someone who “posts an electronic communication where posting the electronic communication causes harm to the individual” could be liable to a fine of $9,400 and up to five years in prison. While supporters of the law hailed it as a victory for women and a strike against online harassers and trolls, critics -- including rights groups and youth and women’s organizations -- warned it was a potential “trojan horse” for internet censorship. As concerns grow over issues such as cybersecurity, fake news, internet harassment and revenge porn, a number of countries are pushing towards greater regulation of the internet. However for every well-meaning attempt to protect people online, there is an example of lawmakers seeking to co-opt such concerns to stifle dissent and censor criticism. Representatives for Fiji’s Attorney General, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Information did not respond to a request for comment for this article.