We may soon be held accountable before the courts for verifying or sharing information online. But when will we be able to demand that the State answer to citizens regarding the information it holds?
This is a question worth asking in the debate surrounding Bill No. 042/2026 on the fight against cybercrime, which is set to be examined by the National Assembly.
Obviously, there is no denying the need to fight cybercrime. Protecting citizens, businesses, institutions, and digital systems against offenses is a necessity.
However, there is a problem of democratic consistency. On one hand, the State is strengthening its legal arsenal to regulate behavior and content in the digital space. On the other hand, the bill on access to public information, which is intended to allow citizens, journalists, and civil society to obtain information held by public institutions, remains blocked in the parliamentary process.
In other words: we are moving quickly on rules that regulate what citizens can circulate, but much more slowly on rules that oblige institutions to make the information they hold accessible.
Yet, the two issues are linked. How can one verify information without access to public data? How can we effectively fight against false information if reliable information produced by the administration remains difficult to obtain?
The real challenge is not to choose between digital security and freedom of expression. The challenge is to build both together: protecting the digital space while guaranteeing the right to know. At Tsimbazaza, the question deserves to be put to the parliamentarians: When will there be real progress on the Access to Public Information Law (LAICP)?
Asking citizens to better verify information must also be accompanied by an obligation for institutions to make public information truly accessible. The fight against disinformation cannot rely solely on sanctioning those who disseminate it. It must also rely on the transparency of those who hold the information.
Fah Andriamanarivo
Captured & Published at: 2026-09-04 05:38:45 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/09/point-de-vue.html