Online safety & content laws in Bahrain (2026)
Online safety rules in Bahrain: heavy restriction.
Bahrain operates a heavily restricted internet regime built around centralized state-run filtering. TRA Resolution 12/2016 requires every ISP to route traffic through a unified, TRA-controlled blocking system, and authorities routinely block political, human-rights, LGBT and religious content, while the Cybercrime Law and Penal Code are used to prosecute users for online expression. A 2025 amendment to the Press Law extended licensing and heavy fines to online outlets, and a Shura Council bill introduced in January 2026 proposes barring under-15s from social media with mandatory age-verification, though the government has objected on enforceability grounds.
Legal framework
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) Resolution No. 12 of 2016 (Internet Safety Regulation) — a centralized state-managed blocking system — combined with Cybercrime Law 60/2014, the Penal Code, and the amended Press, Printing and Publishing Law (Law 41 of 2025) which brings electronic media under Ministry of Information licensing.
Key points: internet & online safety in Bahrain
Centralized state filtering (TRA Resolution 12/2016)
Cybercrime Law 60/2014
The Law on Combating Cybercrime criminalises a broad range of online conduct including distribution of prohibited electronic content, and is regularly used together with the Penal Code to summon and prosecute social media users for posts deemed to harm public order.
Press Law amendments extend to online media (Law 41 of 2025)
Law 41 of 2025, ratified by King Hamad on 30 October 2025, amends Decree-Law 47/2002 to explicitly cover electronic media, requiring Ministry of Information authorisation for Bahraini and foreign online news outlets and replacing prison terms with fines up to BHD 50,000 (~USD 133,000).
Under-15 social media bill (proposed, January 2026)
A Shura Council-backed amendment to the Child Law would add a 'digital safety' chapter prohibiting under-15s from creating accounts on digital platforms, mandate provider age-verification, and empower a body designated by decree to set administrative penalties; the government has publicly objected, citing enforcement and data-protection concerns.
Scope of blocked content
The TRA-run filter blocks pornography and LGBT content and, on national-security or public-order grounds, sites critical of the government or royal family, Shia religious sites, human-rights NGO pages, and news outlets including Al Jazeera; Freedom House continues to rate Bahrain 'Not Free' in its 2025 Freedom on the Net assessment.
Platform liability and takedown pressure
Bahrain lacks an EU-DSA-style intermediary-liability statute; instead authorities issue direct takedown/removal requests to platforms and prosecute individual users, and the amended Press Law creates a licensing chokepoint on 'media-related' platforms operating in-country.
Timeline of decisions
- Law · officialNew Press, Printing and Electronic Media Law (Law No. 41 of 2025) ratified
King Hamad ratified a sweeping overhaul of the 2002 press law that, for the first time, brings online news sites, digital publishers and electronic media platforms under a formal licensing regime; it removes prison sentences in favour of fines up to BD 5,000 but lets courts block websites at the investigation stage on national-security or public-order grounds.
Ministry of Information (Bahrain)
- DecisionBahrain unblocks several Qatari websites after Gulf reconciliation
Following the Al-Ula agreement restoring ties with Qatar, authorities unblocked outlets such as Al-Sharq and Al-Raya, illustrating how content access in Bahrain tracks geopolitical decisions rather than fixed rules.
Freedom House
- EnforcementQatari news websites blocked amid Gulf diplomatic rift
After Bahrain cut ties with Qatar, the TRA-controlled blocking system was used to block Al-Jazeera, Al-Arab, Al-Raya and other Qatari outlets, demonstrating centralised state control over online content.
Freedom House
- Law · officialInformation Technology Crimes Law (Law No. 60 of 2014)
Bahrain's principal cybercrime statute criminalised illegal access, data and system interference, illegal interception, device misuse and content offences (including online fraud and child sexual abuse material), aligning with Budapest Convention concepts.
Council of Europe (Octopus)
- Law · officialTelecommunications Law (Legislative Decree No. 48 of 2002) creates the TRA
The law established the independent Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the regime for licensing ISPs and the Bahrain Internet Exchange, the structural basis through which internet access and the national website-blocking system are controlled.
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Bahrain)
- Law · officialPress, Printing and Publishing Law (Decree-Law No. 47 of 2002)
The foundational media statute governing publication and, by extension, online expression; it set out numerous press offences and long served as the legal basis for prosecuting bloggers and online journalists until the 2025 overhaul.
WIPO Lex
Sources
- ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.detail?p_lang=en&p_isn=105474&p_country=BHR&p_coun
- asianlaws.org/gcld/cyberlawdb/GCC/Law%20on%20Combating%20Cybercrime%20in%20the%20Ki
- mia.gov.bh/2025/10/27/information-minister-amendments-to-press-law-reaffirm-cons
- lexismiddleeast.com/news/2025-05-08_13
- accessnow.org/press-release/bahrain-halt-repressive-amendments-to-press-law/
- newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/125197.html
- lexismiddleeast.com/news/2026-01-15_29/en
- gulf-insider.com/bahrain-social-media-ban-for-under-15s-government-pushback/
- freedomhouse.org/country/bahrain/freedom-net/2025
- freedomhouse.org/country/bahrain/freedom-net/2024
- ifex.org/bahrain-moves-forward-with-measures-to-centralize-internet-censorship
- bahrainpa.org/wp/?p=892
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Bahrain
Next for Bahrain: CybersecuritySectoral rules
Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 3 Aug 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026