World Watch/Cayman Islands/Internet & Online Safety

Internet & Online Safety · Cayman Islands

Internet & Online Safety - Cayman Islands

PartialNo dedicated online-safety/content-moderation statute. Online harms are addressed through general and sectoral laws: the Information and Communications Technology Act (s.90 misuse-of-network offence), the Computer Misuse Act, the Penal Code (harassment provisions), and the Data Protection Act, with OfReg/ICTA as the ICT-sector regulator.

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.

No comprehensive online-safety law

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.

ICT Act misuse-of-network offence (s.90)

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.

Computer Misuse Act and Penal Code

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.

ICT-sector regulator (OfReg/ICTA)

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.

No statutory age-verification or platform-liability rules

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.

Data protection as adjacent safeguard

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.

Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/23/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →