Online safety & content laws in Fiji (2026)

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka launched Fiji's first dedicated National Cybersecurity and Resilience Strategy at a ceremony in Suva, addressing gaps in cyber preparedness and transnational digital threats. The strategy sets a five-year whole-of-government framework for protecting critical infrastructure and digital services.

The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) and Online Safety Commission (OSC) formalised a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to jointly monitor and respond to online misinformation, disinformation, and cyber harm ahead of the 2026 general election. The agreement mandates coordinated detection of harmful electoral content and joint public-awareness campaigns.

The Ministry of Communications released the National Digital Strategy 2025–2030, which designates cybersecurity governance and AI oversight as priority pillars, targeting 80% of key government services online and 80% digital inclusion by 2030. Development of a standalone National Cybersecurity Strategy was flagged as a 2025 deliverable.

The OSC received 1,609 complaints in 2025—more than half involving cyberbullying, harassment, or defamatory electronic communications, with approximately 65% originating on Meta platforms—while its annual budget was reduced from $1.5 million to $1.1 million, raising concerns about the Commission's capacity to handle increasingly complex harms such as sextortion and image-based abuse.

Australia and Fiji signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on Cyber Security Cooperation, committing Australia to help Fiji formulate its National Cybersecurity Strategy and strengthen local cyber governance and capabilities. The agreement is part of Australia's broader Pacific security-cooperation programme.

Fiji's Cybercrime Act 2021 came into full operation on 14 November 2022, replacing the fragmented computer-offence provisions (ss 336–346) of the Crimes Act 2009 with a modern standalone framework covering unauthorised access, system interference, child sexual abuse material online, and electronic evidence. Section 34 on a 24/7 law-enforcement point-of-contact network was deferred pending its establishment.

Fiji's Parliament passed the Cybercrime Act 2021 (Act No. 3 of 2021), the country's first standalone cybercrime statute, developed with Council of Europe GLACY+ technical assistance. The Act criminalises offences against data confidentiality, integrity, and availability, as well as content offences, and consolidates electronic-evidence rules previously scattered across multiple statutes.

The Online Safety Commission (OSC) began accepting public complaints and conducting community education programmes in early 2019 after the Online Safety Act 2018 was formally commenced, making Fiji one of the first Pacific Island nations to establish a statutory online-safety regulator. The OSC handles complaints about cyberbullying, image-based abuse, and harmful electronic communications, referring serious cases to the Fiji Police Cybercrime Unit.

Fiji's Parliament passed the Online Safety Act 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018) by a 27–14 vote, establishing the Online Safety Commission and creating new offences for cyberbullying, image-based abuse, and harmful electronic communication, with penalties up to 7 years' imprisonment and $50,000 fines for individuals. Critics labelled the Act a 'Trojan Horse' that could suppress political free speech, a controversy that shadowed its implementation.

Under military governance, Fiji enacted the Crimes Decree 2009 (Decree No. 44 of 2009), whose Division 6 (ss 336–351) constituted the country's first codified computer-offence framework, criminalising unauthorised computer access and data interference. The provisions were widely criticised as limited and fragmented, ultimately driving the full legislative overhaul completed by the Cybercrime Act 2021.