Social media users in the country have their eyes on the screen after a one Kasuku who uses ‘Jay Squeezer’ on Instagram posted that he would share a three-minute sex tape that features a Kigali-based female artiste. She immediately responded on the same platform, saying she wouldn’t send him money, even if it is “what it required” and that he should do whatever makes him happy. Later, there were back and forth fights on other platforms such as Twitter. People have since taken on the subject, including local media, reporting that the artiste was shaking in her shoes that her sex tape would be leaked, others asking Kasuku what is taking him long. Leaking sex tapes, nude pictures and videos or at least threatening to do so is not new in Rwanda and all over the world, and famous people such as artistes, athletes, politicians, and actors are the most targeted. One of the most famous instances was when the sex tape of Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage was leaked and seen by people from all over the world. However, according to an interview with lawyer and founder of Innocent Law Rwanda, Innocent Muramira, threatening to post someone else’s sex tape online is blackmail, a crime punishable by the Rwandan law upon conviction, and posting it could get you jailed for cyber stalking too. Law Nº 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 Determining Offences and Penalties in General in its article 129 defines blackmail as an act of demanding a signature from a person, acceptance or denial of a responsibility, disclosure of a secrecy, remittance of funds, negotiable instrument or any other asset by threatening to denounce him/her, to disclose or attribute such information, whether true or false, that may damage the honour or reputation of the victim or any other person who, if threatened, may cause harm to the victim. “Any person who uses blackmail, commits an offence. Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one (1) year and not more than three (3) years and a fine of not less than one hundred thousand Rwandan francs (Rwf100, 000) and not more than three hundred thousand Rwandan francs (Rwf300, 000),” the law says. It also determines that in case the person who commits blackmail executes their threats, the penalty is imprisonment for a term of more than three years and not more than five years, and a fine of not less than Rwf 1, 000, 000 and not more than Rwf2, 000, 000. Muramira also said that if the person was convicted with Cyber Stalking, which is punishable under the Law Nº 60/2018 of 22/8/2018 on Prevention and Punishment of Cyber Crimes. Upon conviction of this crime, the person is to be imprisoned for period up to two years and a fine of up to Rwf2, 000, 000. Under Article 35 of this law, the crime is committed when any person intentionally uses a computer or a computer system to harass or threaten with the intent to place another person in distress or fear through one of the following acts when: “1. He/she displays, distributes or publishes indecent documents, sounds, pictures or videos; 2. In bad faith, he/she takes pictures, videos or sounds of any person without his/her consent or knowledge; 3. He/she displays or distributes information in a manner that substantially increases the risk of harm or violence to any other person,” the article reads. Leaking someone’s sex tape, nude videos and pictures is also punishable under the same law in its article 34, publication of pornographic images through a computer or a computer system, which could also attract a five years imprisonment and a fine of up to RWF 3,000,000 upon conviction. “Even the data protection law of 2021 also talks about such offenses and the offender can be held accountable in accordance with the law,” Muramira added.
