Online safety & content laws in Benin (2026)

Law No. 2017-20 (promulgated April 2018) is the primary digital framework, organised into seven books and 647 articles. Book Six (Arts. 491–639) covers cybercrime and cybersecurity and constitutes the principal online safety title; it also governs cryptography use.

The Code criminalises online harassment (Art. 551), non-consensual intimate-image sharing (Arts. 547–548), and defamation/insult via social networks (Arts. 553–554). Article 550, providing prison sentences for broadly worded online expression, has drawn sustained international criticism for enabling prosecutions of journalists and activists.

The Code imposes minimal security and liability obligations on trust-service providers and electronic communications intermediaries but stops short of a comprehensive platform-moderation or proactive content-takedown regime. No specific age-verification mandate for online platforms has been identified.

The Cour de Répression des Infractions Économiques et du Terrorisme (CRIET) handles cybercrime prosecutions jointly with the Office Central de Répression de la Cybercriminalité (OCRC). The independent APDP supervises personal-data obligations of online platforms and can sanction non-compliant operators.

Benin ratified the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention) in January 2024, committing to align its digital framework with the AU's regional cybersecurity and data-protection standards.

As of May 2025, Benin's parliament was debating revisions to the Digital Code. Amnesty International and the Media Foundation for West Africa have called for repeal or revision of Article 550, citing its use to imprison journalists and activists for online speech. No amending legislation had been enacted as of that date.