Ghobash: UAE among first countries to address cybercrime

FNC Speaker presents country’s stance at world conference in Vienna

Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), said yesterday that the UAE was among the first countries in the Middle East to draft a law combating cybercrime in 2006, noting that several amendments have since been made to the law in light of the rapid international developments in information technology systems. Ghobash made this observation while he participated as a keynote speaker on the second day of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Vienna.

Ghobash spoke during the fourth panel discussion held yesterday as part of a series of panel discussions, attended by more than 100 parliamentary speakers, under the theme, ‘Parliamentary Openness and Transparency and Accessibility versus Security: How to Achieve the Balance’.

The UAE was also keen to ensure that the amendments would not violate constitutional and legal principles guaranteeing rights and freedoms, he added, noting that a related International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report had ranked the UAE as the fifth country globally in terms of cybersecurity in 2020.

Influential issues

“I would like to thank the organisers of this important panel discussion for inviting me to be a keynote speaker, to discuss one of the most important and influential issues affecting the work of parliaments, which is related to achieving a balance between parliamentary information transparency, openness to citizens and dealing with the security risks — whether in terms of the tangible security of parliamentary buildings or departments or cybercrime,” he said in conclusion.