Vice President for Innovation and Technology at IMANI Africa, Selorm Branttie, has raised concerns over the Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
According to him, the draft is largely ambiguous and potentially draconian in its current form.
Speaking in an interview with Joy FM, Mr. Branttie warned that several provisions in the proposed law are unclear and overly broad, making it difficult to distinguish between minor online infractions and serious cyber offenses.
He argued that the lack of clarity could open the door for misinterpretation and abuse, with ordinary digital behaviour being criminalised.
“A lot of the lettering for the Cybersecurity Bill, for example, is ambiguous in terms of the kinds of offenses that are being discussed and the ramifications for you being seen as contravening some of these offences makes them draconian, makes it unsuitable for the current day and age and society that we have” he said.
“You are looking at things that could either be minor or major, and bottling it up into just one category and then criminalising all of it.”
Mr. Branttie pointed out that many Ghanaians use secondary social media accounts or alternative digital identities for legitimate reasons, including professional restrictions or privacy concerns.
However, under the current draft of the bill, such actions could be misinterpreted as deceptive or criminal.
He cautioned that without clear definitions and tiered levels of offenses, the law risks granting excessive powers that could be used to target individuals, journalists, or political opponents under the guise of cybersecurity enforcement.
“It’s a dangerous to have laws like this, or some of the stipulations in laws like this dictating the what should be the government’s response or the security aparatus’ response to some of these things that happen digitally because in the wrong hands, this could be used to abuse the personal rights of many indivuduals and could be used to target people percieved as political opponents or people perceived as not liked by anybody who is in authority,” he explained.
Mr. Branttie urged Parliament to review the bill’s language before passage to ensure that it strikes the right balance between protecting national cybersecurity and safeguarding citizens’ digital freedoms.
He proposed that lawmakers engage technical experts, civil society, and the private sector to refine the definitions of offenses, differentiate between levels of severity, and introduce clear oversight mechanisms.
IMANI Africa, known for its policy advocacy on governance and technology, has consistently called for transparency and proportionality in Ghana’s digital regulatory frameworks.
The Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill, 2025 seeks to update the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) to address emerging online threats, enhance national digital security infrastructure, and strengthen enforcement powers for state agencies.
However, a cross-section of Ghanaians and digital rights advocates warn that some of the proposed amendments could infringe on privacy, freedom of expression, and data protection, if not carefully drafted.
The bill is currently before Parliament’s Communications Committee for consideration, with public consultations expected to continue in the coming weeks.
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