Ghana’s Cybersecurity Act

1. Overview

The Cybersecurity Act (Act 1038 of 2020), passed by Ghana, provides a legal framework for regulations against cybercrimes, including those involving synthetic media and perhaps deepfakes. It seeks to enhance digital security and avoid technology-facilitated crime among its key goals.

2. Scope of the Law

Cyber deception, identity theft, disinformation, and unlawful data manipulation-including malicious deepfakes-are all treated in broad brushstrokes by the Act. It covers the production, use, and distribution of false digital information that is misleading or deceptive. Sincere research, art, and reporting can be exempted only if there’s no ill will or dishonesty.

3. Key Clauses

• Restrain Activities: Section 63 penalises producing or sharing harmful digital content that is false or misleading.
• Access to data without consent, which may involve changing media to produce deepfakes, is a crime under Section 76.
• Consent Principles: Deepfakes are not referred to in the Act, but its data protection provisions (which align with Ghana’s Data Protection Act, 2012) provide that consent must be obtained to process personal data.

Platform Responsibilities: Service providers have to cooperate with an investigation and report cyber offenses to the Cyber Security Authority (CSA).

4. Enforcement

The perpetrators of the crime will be investigated and prosecuted by the Ghana Police Service and the Cyber Security Authority (CSA). Penalty could be 100 hundred 10-year imprisonment or, in some cases, there is a possibility of 500,000 GHS.  

5. Notable Cases or Precedents

Although there have not been any spectacular deepfake cases so far, Ghana has used this law to prosecute cyber fraud cases, e.g., romance scams.

6. Implications

Creators: Should label content created by AI and shouldn’t give false edits.

Victims: Can Report to the CSA or the Ghana Police’s Cyber Crime Unit.

 Platforms: Should abide by CSA policies for removal of harmful content.

7. Future Outlook

Ghana will be expected to revise its Cybersecurity Act to have explicit provisions for deepfakes as synthetic media technology develops. The government is tracking worldwide regulatory action and might do a number of things:

• Make Watermarking AI-generated content compulsory.
•  More stringent consent arrangements for image and voice replication.
• More onus on the platform for deepfakes becoming viral
• These developments might be part of wider revamps of digital policies in 2024–2025, the Cyber Security Authority said