World Watch/Kiribati/Internet & Online Safety

Internet & Online Safety · Kiribati

Online safety & content laws in Kiribati (2026)

PartialCybercrime Act 2021 (primary); Data Protection Bill 2025 (pending enactment); National Cybersecurity Strategy 2020; Ministry of Information, Communications & Transport (MICT)Country index 62 · C+

Kiribati shaded by its internet & online safety status

Kiribati has partial online-safety regulation anchored in the Cybercrime Act 2021, which criminalises unauthorised computer access, cyberstalking, and child-exploitation material, supported by accession to the Budapest Convention (in force October 2024). A Data Protection Bill passed its first parliamentary reading in April 2025 but is not yet enacted. No comprehensive platform-liability, content-moderation, or age-verification regime exists, and the government's own planning documents acknowledge the gap in harmful-digital-communications law.

Key points

Cybercrime Act 2021

Enacted August 2021 with Australian and Council of Europe technical support, the Act criminalises unauthorised system access, identity theft, cyberstalking, and distribution of child-sexual-abuse material; it does not establish platform-liability or content-moderation duties for intermediaries.

Budapest Convention accession

Kiribati signed the Convention on Cybercrime on 20 June 2024 in Strasbourg; it entered into force on 1 October 2024, making Kiribati one of 75 state parties and aligning its cybercrime law with international standards.

Data Protection Bill 2025

Described as Kiribati's first data-protection legislation, the Bill passed its first parliamentary reading on 1 April 2025; it would regulate personal-data processing and designate the Digital Transformation Office as enforcement authority, but had not been enacted as of the available sources.

National Cybersecurity Strategy 2020

Kiribati adopted a National Cybersecurity Strategy in 2020 establishing the Kiribati National Cybersecurity Agency and setting priorities for infrastructure protection, public awareness, and international cooperation.

No platform-liability or age-verification rules

Kiribati has no laws imposing content-moderation obligations on online platforms, no statutory age-verification requirements, and no harmful-digital-communications legislation; a UNCTAD 2024 gap analysis of Pacific small-island developing states confirms these lacunae.

Regulatory and ICT governance body

The Ministry of Information, Communications & Transport (MICT) oversees ICT and digital policy; the Communications Commission of Kiribati (CCK) regulates telecommunications under the Communications Act 2013 and the National ICT Policy 2019.

Kiribati - other topics

Last verified 5/25/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Explore the full world map →