Internet & Online Safety · Cayman Islands
Online safety & content laws in Cayman Islands (2026)
Cayman Islands shaded by its internet & online safety status
The Cayman Islands has no comprehensive online-safety or platform content-moderation regime comparable to the EU Digital Services Act or the UK Online Safety Act, and no proposed bill of that kind is publicly pending. Instead, online content and conduct are governed by a patchwork of general criminal and ICT-sector laws — most notably ICT Act s.90 (using an ICT network to abuse, threaten or harass), the Computer Misuse Act, and Penal Code harassment offences — plus the Data Protection Act for personal data. There are no statutory platform-liability, intermediary-takedown, or social-media age-verification rules in force.
Key points
There is no Cayman equivalent of the EU DSA or UK Online Safety Act imposing duties of care, illegal/harmful-content removal, or systemic-risk obligations on platforms; online regulation is fragmented across criminal, ICT and data-protection statutes.
Section 90 of the Information and Communications Technology Act makes it an offence to knowingly use an ICT network or service to defraud, abuse, annoy, threaten or harass any person, punishable by fines up to CI$20,000 and up to two years' imprisonment on indictment, with a power to restrain further ICT use.
The Computer Misuse Act (modelled on the UK Computer Misuse Act) criminalises unauthorised access, modification and interception of computer systems, while Penal Code sections 88A–88C cover intentional harassment, alarm or distress and threats — the principal tools for prosecuting online harms.
The Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg), via its ICT function (formerly the ICTA), regulates ICT networks/services through licensing under the ICT Act and addresses cybersecurity and consumer protection, but it does not operate a content-moderation or online-safety mandate over platforms.
There are no in-force or publicly proposed Cayman laws requiring social-media age verification, age-gating of minors, or imposing intermediary/platform liability and notice-and-takedown duties; such obligations exist only indirectly via the general offences above.
The Data Protection Act (in force 30 September 2019, 2021 Revision), supervised by the Cayman Islands Ombudsman and broadly aligned with the EU GDPR, governs personal-data handling online but does not regulate content moderation or online-safety harms.
Timeline - major decisions & events
Cayman Marl Road owner Sandra Hill faced criminal charges for the tenth time, reviving debate over the Director of Public Prosecutions' repeated use of ICT/harassment offences against an online publisher and the line between online abuse and protected speech.
Cayman News Service ↗The Utility Regulation and Competition Office published a revised notice under s.23(2) of the ICT Act (2019 Revision) clarifying licensing scope for ICT networks and services, taking immediate effect — the core gatekeeping mechanism for who may operate communications infrastructure in Cayman.
OfReg ↗Legislation amending the ICT Act (2019 Revision) to redefine licence fees, provide for administrative and annual licence fees, and validate prior fee charging and collection — updating the statutory backbone OfReg uses to regulate the sector.
Cayman Islands Legislation Portal ↗The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal overturned Hill's conviction under s.90 of the ICT Act (using an ICT service to abuse, annoy, threaten or harass), holding the trial wrongly excluded the truth of and genuine belief in her allegations — a landmark limit on how online-harassment offences can curb publication.
Cayman Compass ↗The Cayman Marl Road broadcaster was convicted under s.90 of the ICT Act over a podcast and related posts about a local businessman — the most prominent application of the Cayman Islands' online-harassment offence, later overturned on appeal in 2025.
Cayman News Service ↗The DPA 2017 and Data Protection Regulations 2018 commenced, establishing a GDPR-style, eight-principle regime governing how organisations handle personal data online and offline, enforced by the Ombudsman with fines up to CI$250,000.
Cayman Islands Ombudsman ↗The Cayman Islands legislature passed its first comprehensive data-protection statute, modelled on the EU GDPR, creating individual rights over personal data and supervisory powers later vested in the Ombudsman.
Cayman Islands Ombudsman ↗Established by the Utility Regulation and Competition Act 2016, the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) began operating as the multi-sector regulator, taking over the ICT Authority's functions plus strengthened competition and consumer-protection powers over communications and online services.
OfReg ↗The foundational statute created the ICT Authority to license and regulate ICT networks and services and established offences — including s.90's prohibition on using an ICT service to defraud, abuse, annoy, threaten or harass — that still anchor Cayman's online-content and safety regime.
Cayman Islands Legislation Portal ↗Cayman Islands - other topics
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