Online safety & content laws in Fiji (2026)
Online safety rules in Fiji: partial.
Fiji has a dedicated online safety regime anchored by the Online Safety Act 2018, which established an independent Online Safety Commission (OSC) to receive complaints about harmful electronic communications including cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and harmful content. The Cybercrime Act 2021 (in force from November 2022) addresses computer-related and content-related offences. Both laws fall short of a comprehensive EU DSA-style platform accountability framework; the Fiji Law Reform Commission launched a formal review in 2025 to strengthen definitions, introduce platform duty-of-care obligations, and expand offences.
Legal framework
Online Safety Act 2018 (administered by the Online Safety Commission); Cybercrime Act 2021; Online Safety Regulations 2019
Key points: internet & online safety in Fiji
Online Safety Act 2018
Enacted May 2018 and operational from 2019, the Act creates the Online Safety Commission as an independent body corporate empowered to receive individual complaints of harmful electronic communication, investigate, and seek court orders against respondents and online content hosts. Maximum penalties are FJD 50,000 / 7 years imprisonment for individuals and FJD 100,000 for bodies corporate.
Online Safety Commission (OSC)
The OSC is Fiji's dedicated online safety regulator, operating since 2019. It collaborates with social media services on content takedowns, works with the police Cybercrime unit on enforcement, and in 2024 documented that 22% of Fijian women are frequent targets of image-based abuse. The Commission has publicly called for additional legal powers to remove harmful apps.
Cybercrime Act 2021
The Cybercrime Act 2021 came into force on 14 November 2022, replacing earlier computer-related offence provisions in the Crimes Act 2009. It covers computer-related fraud, identity theft, surveillance warrant powers requiring ISPs to collect and hand over traffic data in real time, and content-related offences.
Law Reform Commission review (2025)
The Fiji Law Reform Commission began a formal public review of the Online Safety Act 2018 in 2025, focusing on strengthening definitions, new categories of offences, statutory duty-of-care obligations on digital service providers to detect and remove harmful content, tougher penalties, broader coverage of mis/disinformation, and improved cross-border cooperation. No amending legislation has been enacted as of May 2026.
Age verification and children
There are no age-verification requirements mandated under current Fijian law. The OSC has stated it is monitoring Australia's under-16 social-media access restrictions before deciding whether to propose similar measures in Fiji, and the FLRC review lists improved child-safety pathways as a priority.
UN Convention on Cybercrime & Media Act repeal
Fiji signed the UN Convention Against Cybercrime (the first global UN instrument on the topic), strengthening its international cooperation framework. The restrictive Media Industry Development Act 2010, which also touched online content, was repealed by Parliament in April 2023 following a change of government, removing that layer of content control.
Timeline of decisions
- DecisionFijian Elections Office and Online Safety Commission sign MOU on election misinformation
The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) and Online Safety Commission (OSC) formalised a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to jointly monitor and respond to online misinformation, disinformation, and cyber harm ahead of the 2026 general election. The agreement mandates coordinated detection of harmful electoral content and joint public-awareness campaigns.
Fiji Village
- IncidentOnline Safety Commission records 1,609 complaints as budget cut by $400,000
The OSC received 1,609 complaints in 2025—more than half involving cyberbullying, harassment, or defamatory electronic communications, with approximately 65% originating on Meta platforms—while its annual budget was reduced from $1.5 million to $1.1 million, raising concerns about the Commission's capacity to handle increasingly complex harms such as sextortion and image-based abuse.
Fiji Sun
- Decision · officialOnline Safety Commission becomes operational
The Online Safety Commission (OSC) began accepting public complaints and conducting community education programmes in early 2019 after the Online Safety Act 2018 was formally commenced, making Fiji one of the first Pacific Island nations to establish a statutory online-safety regulator. The OSC handles complaints about cyberbullying, image-based abuse, and harmful electronic communications, referring serious cases to the Fiji Police Cybercrime Unit.
Online Safety Commission Fiji
- Law · officialOnline Safety Act 2018 enacted — Pacific's first statutory online-safety regime
Fiji's Parliament passed the Online Safety Act 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018) by a 27–14 vote, establishing the Online Safety Commission and creating new offences for cyberbullying, image-based abuse, and harmful electronic communication, with penalties up to 7 years' imprisonment and $50,000 fines for individuals. Critics labelled the Act a 'Trojan Horse' that could suppress political free speech, a controversy that shadowed its implementation.
Laws of Fiji
Sources
- laws.gov.fj/Acts/DisplayAct/2462
- laws.gov.fj/Acts/DisplayAct/2463
- laws.gov.fj/Acts/DisplayAct/3165
- osc.com.fj/about-online-safety-commission/
- parliament.gov.fj/acts/act-8-online-safety/
- flrc.gov.fj/information-package-review-of-fijis-online-safety-act-2018-and-associ
- cybilportal.org/actors/fiji-online-safety-commission/
- foreignaffairs.gov.fj/fiji-signs-the-united-nations-convention-against-cybercrime/
- pina.com.fj/2023/04/06/fijis-media-act-repealed-by-parliament/
- osc.com.fj/
Next for Fiji: CybersecuritySectoral rules
Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026