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.