Internet & Online Safety · Angola
Online safety & content laws in Angola (2026)
Angola shaded by its internet & online safety status
Angola operates a fragmented online safety and cybercrime regime built on scattered statutory provisions — principally the 2020 Penal Code's cybercrime chapter and the 2017 Network and Information Systems Law — with no comprehensive platform-regulation statute equivalent to the EU DSA or UK OSA. In 2025, the government advanced a major Cybersecurity Law and a sweeping 'fake news' Law on Dissemination of False Information on the Internet through public consultation and initial parliamentary readings, both drawing international condemnation for vague language and disproportionate penalties. Existing rules already allow the media regulator ERCA to suspend websites without judicial oversight, and the August 2024 National Security Law authorises telecommunications restrictions without a court order.
Key points
Law No. 38/20 (Penal Code, 2020) contains a dedicated cybercrime chapter covering illicit access, data manipulation, interception, system sabotage, digital fraud, and illicit copying of software — forming the primary criminal-law basis for Angola's online-conduct rules.
Law No. 7/17 (2017) requires intermediary service providers targeting Angola to obtain prior authorisation and registration, and empowers authorities to prohibit services that threaten public order, human dignity, child protection, or that engage in hate speech or illegal activities.
Angola's parliament approved the draft Cybersecurity Law in a first reading in 2025. It would establish a National Cybersecurity Centre (CNC) with broad regulatory, supervisory, inspection, and sanctioning powers; critics including Maka Angola have characterised it as a tool for authoritarian consolidation.
A Draft Law on the Dissemination of False Information on the Internet (publicly consulted March–April 2025, cabinet-approved) would impose prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines up to 3 billion Kwanza on individuals and platforms; the CPJ, IPI, and 37+ press-freedom organisations urged Angola to amend it citing vague language and disproportionate penalties threatening press freedom.
President Lourenço signed the National Security Law in August 2024, permitting government interference with media and telecommunications services — including internet services — without court approval in broadly defined 'exceptional circumstances', and granting expanded surveillance powers to authorities.
The Angolan Regulatory Body for Social Communication (ERCA), established under the 2017 Social Communication Legislative Package, can suspend or ban websites for failing its journalism standards without judicial oversight, giving the executive informal leverage over online content; Freedom House rated Angola 'Partly Free' at 60/100 in its Freedom on the Net 2025 report.
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Last verified 5/24/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Explore the full world map →