Online safety & content laws in Barbados (2026)

Chapter 124B, enacted 18 July 2005, criminalises unauthorised access to computer systems, data interference, and related offences, with penalties up to $25,000 BBD fine and/or 2 years imprisonment. It is the primary standing cybercrime statute but does not impose platform content-moderation obligations.

Modelled on the EU GDPR, the Act established a Privacy Commissioner, sets out data-subject rights, lawful-processing principles, and cross-border transfer rules. Full enforcement commenced 1 January 2025, making it the primary instrument governing personal-data handling by online services operating in Barbados.

Passed by the House of Assembly on 7 February 2024 to replace the 2005 Act and align Barbados with the Budapest Convention, the Bill was subsequently referred to a Joint Select Committee amid controversy. As of early 2025 it had not received Senate assent and was not yet enacted law.

Clauses 19-20 of the Cybercrime Bill would criminalise publishing data online that causes 'annoyance, embarrassment, anxiety or substantial emotional distress,' carrying fines of up to $70,000 BBD and 7 years imprisonment. Civil society and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) have flagged these provisions as a threat to freedom of expression.

Barbados has no legislation imposing DSA- or OSA-style obligations on online platforms: no systemic risk assessments, no duty-of-care requirements, no algorithmic transparency rules, and no mandatory age-verification regime for online services.

Barbados is rated 'Free' in Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2025 assessment; there is no evidence of government-mandated content blocking, internet shutdowns, or heavy surveillance infrastructure targeting ordinary users.