The police will be unable to monitor someone’s online communications or block websites. In a news conference, specialists provided details about the legal amendments concerning the regulation of information technology, which caused dissatisfaction in civil society, IPN reports.
Natalia Bayram, lawyer of the International Center for Protection and Promotion of Women’s Rights “La Strada”, said the legislative proposals are in strict compliance with the legislation and the international agreements to which Moldova is a party. The amendments refer only to the offenses committed against children. “They speculate that the bill contains changes that will enable to read email messages and other textual messages. Now the legislation allows monitoring and reading such types of messages, but nobody opposed so far. Such measures will be taken in case of criminal procedures and with the consent of an investigating magistrate,” she stated.
Sergiu Turcan, head of the Law Division of the National Police Inspectorate, said these amendments represent an overdue measure stipulated in the Association Agreement with the EU. They are aimed at combating child sexual abuse online, terrorism and bank fraud.
According to Sergiu Turcan, the number of cases of child sexual abuse online has increased in Moldova. A study carried out in 2011 showed that many children use the Internet unsupervised. The surveyed minors admitted that they transmitted data and pictures to unknown person online or even accepted to meet with these.
Investigation officer of the National Investigations Inspectorate’s Center for Combating Cybercrime Veaceslav Badarau said it’s not true that the police will be able to block inconvenient websites. This will be the prerogative of Internet providers, while the police will only examine the situation when webpages promoting child pornography, terrorism, hate speech and other offences are identified and will punish those to blame, but there will be blocked only the given webpages.
The bill to amend the legislation on IT regulation was approved by the Cabinet last week. Activists and journalists said the authorities aim to monitor their political opponents and any other member of society with views that different from the official ones and to use the information found in their online communications against them.
