Tunisia Amends Cybercrime Law to Replace Prison Sentences with Fines for First-Time Offenders

Tunisia's President Kais Saied speaks after being sworn in for a second five-year term on October 21, 2024. Tunisia has softened a cybercrime law that has previously resulted in the imprisonment of journalists and activists, now allowing first-time offenders to pay fines instead of serving jail time.

The amendment to Decree 54, which took effect on Wednesday, establishes fines ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 Tunisian dinars ($3,370 to $6,740) for a first offense involving the spread of "false news" and related violations. These fines replace the previous five-year prison sentence, although repeat offenders may still face incarceration.

Rights and media freedom advocates both in Tunisia and internationally have long criticized the decree as repressive, arguing that it has been utilized against President Kais Saied’s political opponents, activists, and reporters. Conversely, the government maintains that the decree safeguards the public and public order from attacks and is essential for combating online crime and disinformation.

What does the amended law say?

Decree 54, issued by President Kais Saied in September 2022, criminalized the dissemination of falsehoods through electronic means. Previously, anyone convicted of circulating untrue information deemed threatening to public security or infringing on others' rights faced up to five years in prison. Penalties also applied to the sharing of doctored content, personal data, or untrue allegations intended to stir up hatred, incite attacks, defame individuals, damage reputations, or cause material or moral harm.

Targeting a public official or a person of equivalent status previously raised the maximum penalty to a decade behind bars and a fine of 100,000 dinars (more than $32,000). Repeat offenders faced an additional six months in prison and a 50,000-dinar fine, with penalties doubling if the offense targeted a public official.

How has Decree 54 been used?

The decree has faced widespread condemnation from Tunisian and international organizations dedicated to press freedom. Said Benarbia, Middle East and North Africa director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), told Al Jazeera that the law was "one of the potent tools of oppression used by the government to crush dissent, crack down on civic space and arbitrarily restrict the freedom of expression in the country."

Rafik Abdessalem, Tunisia’s foreign minister from 2011 to 2013 and a senior figure in the Islamist Ennahdha party, stated that the decree was used "to silence every voice critical of the regime." Ennahdha was a prominent opposition party until President Kais Saied initiated a severe crackdown, sentencing its leadership, including Abdessalem, to long prison terms, some in absentia.

The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) reported that hundreds of journalists, bloggers, opposition politicians, lawyers, and activists had been tried under the decree since its inception in 2022, declaring the situation an "emergency." In its annual report, the SNJT recorded 14 prosecutions of journalists between April 2025 and April 2026, with six occurring under the decree. Prominent Tunisian lawyer and columnist Sonia Dahmani was notably sentenced to two years in prison for criticizing prison conditions during a radio interview, facing charges under the decree in five separate cases alongside an 18-month sentence in 2024 for criticizing President Kais Saied’s policies.

Another citizen, Saber Ben Chouchane, was sentenced to death under multiple censorship laws, including Decree 54, for Facebook posts, though he was later granted a presidential pardon. International critics, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the European Parliament, have denounced the decree as a tool for interfering with fundamental freedoms and called for its repeal, linking it to democratic backsliding following the 2011 revolution.

In 2021, President Kais Saied suspended parliament, dismissed the government, and began ruling by presidential decree—actions critics label as an autocratic subversion of Tunisia's democracy. A new constitution was established via a 2022 referendum, and President Kais Saied secured a second five-year term in 2024 with over 90 percent of the vote amid a low turnout of 28.8 percent. President Kais Saied rejects accusations of autocracy, maintaining that his actions are legal and necessary to end years of disorder and corruption.

Why now?

Just hours before the Wednesday amendment took effect, civil society groups led by Tunisia’s largest labor union announced plans for nationwide protests against restrictions on civil liberties. Following years of economic hardship and political curbs, Tunisia has experienced a rise in demonstrations demanding press freedom and the release of detained critics, alongside growing pressure from international figures such as US Representative Joe Wilson, who previously threatened sanctions against President Kais Saied and his associates.

Is the amendment enough?

Critics argue that the amendment falls short of addressing broader freedom of speech concerns. While Said Benarbia called the reduction in penalties a "positive development," he emphasized the need to halt all abusive prosecutions and release those arbitrarily detained. Lotfi Hajji, head of Al Jazeera’s bureau in Tunisia, noted that civil society groups and the journalists’ union continue to demand the complete repeal of Decree 54 in favor of the 2011 press freedom law.