Facebook Page Admins Summoned by Mauritius Cybercrime Unit

Administrators of three Facebook pages in Mauritius have been summoned by the Cybercrime Division of the Criminal Investigation Department, known as the CCID, in connection with comments published on their respective pages.

The CCID is a specialised unit within the Mauritius Police Force responsible for investigating crimes committed online or using digital tools. It handles cases involving cyberbullying, online defamation, illegal content sharing and breaches of the Information and Communication Technologies Act, commonly referred to as the ICT Act.

While the original report does not specify the exact nature of the comments under scrutiny, the summoning of page administrators rather than the individual users who posted the comments is significant. In Mauritius, administrators of public Facebook pages can be held legally accountable for content that appears on their pages if they are found to have allowed, promoted or failed to remove unlawful material.

This legal exposure stems from provisions within the ICT Act and related legislation, which place responsibility on those who manage digital platforms and community spaces, even when they did not personally write the offending content.

The development comes at a sensitive time in Mauritius. The country has recently experienced a period of social unrest, with widespread riots leading to hundreds of arrests and significant economic damage. Social media platforms, including Facebook, were widely used during and after those events to share footage, commentary and, in some cases, content that authorities considered inflammatory or unlawful.

What this means: If you run or co-administer a Facebook page in Mauritius, you may carry legal responsibility for comments and posts made by others on your page. The CCID has the authority to summon administrators for questioning and, depending on the findings, to refer cases for prosecution under the ICT Act. Being summoned does not automatically mean a person will be charged, but it is a formal step in a criminal investigation that requires compliance. Page administrators are advised to monitor content on their platforms and remove anything that could be considered defamatory, threatening or inciting.

This case highlights a growing trend in Mauritius of authorities scrutinising social media activity, particularly in the wake of the recent unrest. It is a reminder that online speech in Mauritius is not without legal consequences, even for those who manage community pages rather than post directly.

Source: Le Defi Media