Proposed Cyber Security Bill Is A Dangerous Authoritarian Beast Franklin Cudjoe

Franklin Cudjoe must understand that cybersecurity legislation is not a playground for emotional expressions or alarmist adjectives but a monumental contest over national sovereignty, economic destiny, constitutional integrity and human freedom in the digital age. Describing the Cybersecurity Amendment Bill 2025 as a “dangerous authoritarian beast” may sound strong, but it reveals a lack of depth in understanding the real mechanics and global implications of such legislative instruments.

This is not merely a Ghanaian issue; it is a battlefield where nations either seize control of their digital future or surrender it to authoritarian impulses, foreign intelligence systems, and corporate surveillance empires. Franklin’s approach falls into the trap of noise without direction; it agitates public fear but does not elevate public intelligence.

He must be taught that cybersecurity is not about who shouts loudest, but about who understands the delicate constitutional balance between state power, citizen freedom, technological advancement and economic opportunity.

The bill in its current form does not simply threaten freedom because it is “authoritarian”, it threatens to fundamentally restructure Ghana’s digital ecosystem in a manner that would place unchecked power in the hands of a regulatory authority without judicial restraint, creating a state-controlled digital environment where private data, business operations and individual digital existence can be intercepted, seized or terminated without due process.

Franklin must grow beyond branding the bill as a beast and begin to articulate, with constitutional precision, the dangers of removing judicial oversight, the economic threat posed by allowing the Authority to self-finance through punitive levies, the chilling effect on startup innovation and investor confidence, and the strategic consequence of allowing politicians to control data flows in an era when data is the new gold. He must understand that cybersecurity is now the frontline of national sovereignty; whoever controls digital infrastructure controls the economy, the elections, the national psyche and the very memory of the state. But control without constitutional boundaries turns cybersecurity into cyber dictatorship.

This is where Franklin has failed to teach. He has not explained that Section 20B of the bill hands policing powers to the Authority, enabling it to enter premises, seize computers, demand user information and shut down digital platforms, all without a court order, stripping away the judiciary as the guardian of citizens’ rights. He has not articulated that such powers, if unchecked, would mean that every journalist, every digital entrepreneur, every private citizen, every dissenting voice could be silenced with the click of a bureaucratic button.

He has not educated the public that data privacy is not just a technical issue; it is an extension of human dignity, just as the sanctity of one’s home cannot be violated without a warrant, so the sanctity of one’s digital life cannot be violated without judicial authorization. He should teach that Ghana must not become a digital police state under the excuse of security. He must also understand that true cybersecurity is not merely the blocking of threats, but the protection of citizens from unlawful surveillance, ensuring that national defense does not become political offense. Ghana needs a cybersecurity framework rooted in the constitution, governed by judicial oversight, built on a multi-stakeholder model where technology experts, civil society, academia, entrepreneurs and security agencies participate in decision-making rather than a single authority wielding unchecked power.

If Franklin seeks to lead, he must offer this vision, a national digital bill of rights, protections against state intrusion, incentives for digital innovation, a judicially supervised enforcement mechanism and a transparent governance structure that ensures security is never weaponised against the people. Until Franklin rises from emotional rhetoric to constitutional reasoning, until he stops shouting metaphors and starts shaping models, he will continue to excite minds without equipping them. Leadership in the digital era is not about frightening the nation into resistance; it is about enlightening the nation into strategic action. He must either rise into that intellectual space or coil into silence and allow those with real understanding to build Ghana’s digital future.

BY CURTICE DUMEVOR, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT AND SOCIAL COMMENTATOR

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