Cameroon's new penal code could drag social media users to courts

The new Cameroon Penal Code under review could land social media users in courts. It does not only seek to place an eagle eye on the social media, but to criminalize users who criticize the 34-year-old regime for its abuse of power. Threats according to the code, are not clearly defined.

At the moment, Cameroon still applies the 1990 laws on social communications that regulate the old media. Perhaps, Communications scholars who drafted the 1990 media laws could not predict nor explain the rise of a more powerful new media that would challenge the authoritarian press.