Online safety & content laws in Belize (2026)

Act No. 32 of 2020 creates offences for unauthorised computer access, data and system interference, identity theft, computer-related fraud, cyber harassment, online extortion, child luring, and publication of private sexual images without consent; it also mandates service-provider data retention and aligns with Budapest Convention co-operation procedures.

Act No. 45 of 2021 imposes lawful-basis, purpose-limitation, and security obligations on any entity processing personal data; it establishes a Data Protection Commissioner, requires 72-hour breach notification, mandates Data Protection Impact Assessments for high-risk processing, and restricts cross-border transfers — becoming fully operative on 1 January 2025.

Belize adopted a National Cybersecurity Strategy 2020–2023 identifying three priority pillars: building a national legal framework, developing incident-response and critical-infrastructure capacity, and advancing cybersecurity education and workforce development; no public successor strategy for 2024–2026 has been confirmed.

Belize has enacted no legislation imposing obligations on online platforms to moderate content, remove illegal material, or carry out algorithmic-risk assessments; there are no domestic equivalents to DSA very-large-platform duties or UK Online Safety Act duties of care.

As of May 2026, Belize has not enacted dedicated age-verification mandates for social-media platforms or specific statutory child-online-safety duties on service providers beyond the criminal prohibitions on child luring in the Cybercrime Act.

Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2025 rates Belize 88/100 (Free) with no evidence of systematic internet filtering or blocking; Reporters Without Borders ranks Belize 47th in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, noting polarisation and occasional journalist intimidation but no state censorship of online content.