Matthew Proposes Daily Penalties for Telecom Providers as Parliament Tightens Electronic Crimes Law
Education Minister Daryll Matthew revealed that he recently fell victim to electronic crime while urging Parliament to impose daily penalties on telecommunications companies and other service providers that fail to cooperate with criminal investigations.
Matthew made the remarks during debate on the Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill 2026, legislation designed to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to obtain electronic evidence needed to investigate crimes.
The St. John’s Rural South MP said the increasingly sophisticated nature of cybercrime requires authorities to be equipped with stronger tools and proposed that service providers face escalating penalties for failing to comply with court-ordered requests for information.
“I would love to see a daily penalty included for every day that the service provider, or whoever the request is made to, does not comply with the request,” Matthew told Parliament.
He argued that providers should be given a specific period to comply and then face financial consequences for continued delays.
“After that period no compliance is forthcoming, then you charge daily because we need to protect our people. We need to protect society,” he said.
Matthew disclosed that he personally experienced the impact of electronic crime only days before the parliamentary debate.
“I fell victim to financial crime,” he said, adding that his bank was addressing the matter.
The minister said advances in technology and artificial intelligence have made fraud schemes increasingly difficult to detect.
“With the advent of artificial intelligence, it’s becoming almost impossible to discern what is real and what is fake,” he said. “The criminals always seem to be one step ahead.”
Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin welcomed Matthew’s proposal during the committee stage of the bill, and Parliament ultimately incorporated the recommendation into the legislation.
The amended law provides for a daily penalty of up to $5,000 for service providers that fail to comply with production orders after being given up to 21 days to provide the requested information.
Government lawmakers said the measure was necessary because investigators have experienced difficulties obtaining electronic records from service providers during criminal investigations.
The Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill also expands the scope of data that may be obtained under production orders, including information stored through cloud-based services, and clarifies that the Office of National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy is among the agencies that may benefit from the legislation.
Matthew said the reforms represent an important step in protecting citizens and businesses from financial fraud and other forms of electronic crime.
“We need to do as much as we can and I believe this really is a step in the right direction,” he said.