Increase in Online Incidents in Mauritius: Women Slightly More Affected than Men

By Patrick Hilbert

Mon 22/12/2025 - 3:30 PM

A range of measures is being studied to protect internet users from online abuse.

Cyberbullying: High daily occurrence

Authorities are currently developing a variety of measures to combat the rise in online incidents. According to official data from the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication, and Innovation, covering the period from January to November last year, 5,233 cases were reported. These incidents affect women more (2,773 cases) than men (2,460 cases), with certain types, such as online harassment, occurring daily.

The five most frequent types of incidents account for about 70% of the total cases. Online harassment tops the list with 1,414 cases (27%), averaging over five cases per day, primarily affecting women. Next are scams and fraud, with 763 cases (15%), nearly evenly split between men and women. Cyberbullying includes 623 cases (12%), which translates to more than two cases per day. Fake news accounts for 520 cases (10%), more common among men, averaging about two cases per day. Lastly, there are 427 cases (9%) related to identity theft.

Low-volume incidents, such as DoS attacks (1 case) or ransomware (9 cases), indicate a relative rarity of advanced technical threats compared to the predominance of interpersonal abuse. Among categories showing a significant disparity favoring women (exceeding men by over 10%), we find online harassment, offensive content, identity theft, cyberstalking, child exploitation and abuse, as well as the category “Other.”

These figures confirm a rapid evolution of online threats, with social abuses (harassment, bullying) prevailing over technical attacks (malware, ransomware). The observed increase over three consecutive years highlights the urgent need for strengthened interventions, particularly to protect vulnerable groups such as women and children (24 cases of exploitation and abuse, critical in severity despite being low in volume).

In light of this data, the ministry is preparing amendments to the Cybersecurity & Cybercrime Act 2021 to enhance deterrent protections. A national agency for cyber resilience and cybersecurity is being considered, with online safety as a key function.

Furthermore, establishing an independent regulator for online safety is under review, inspired by international models (eSafety Commissioner in Australia, Online Safety Commissioner in Ireland, Online Safety Act in the UK via Ofcom). Preliminary consultations with stakeholders are assessing options, including an independent statutory office or a unit within an existing regulator.

The current ecosystem, comprising the ICTA, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, the Cybercrime Unit, the Child Development Unit, and the Computer Emergency Response Team, already provides critical protection, but these developments aim to adapt responses to the dynamic nature of online harms.

Additionally, as part of strengthening against online abuse and ensuring digital safety for youth, the government launched the SIM Card for Child Online Protection (COP) on December 10. This initiative, led by Minister of Information Technology, Communication, and Innovation Avinash Ramtohul, is available through the three operators (Mauritius Telecom, Emtel, and MTML) and aims to protect children online while promoting responsible mobile phone usage.