Cybercrime Law, Child Pornography Including Simulated Representations
Lei n.º 8/IX/2017, art. 9.º (pornografia infantil), de 20 de Março (Lei do Cibercrime)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force.
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not produce, offer, make available, disseminate, transmit, obtain, or possess, through a computer system, a real or simulated visual representation of a child under 18 in sexually explicit activity, or of a child's sexual organs for a predominantly sexual purpose; a simulated or computer-generated representation is treated the same as a depiction of a real child.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Producing child pornography for dissemination through a computer system draws 2 to 8 years' imprisonment (Article 9(1)); offering, making available, disseminating, or transmitting it draws 1 to 5 years (Article 9(2)-(3)); obtaining or possessing it draws 1 to 4 years (Article 9(4)-(5)); a reduced tier of up to 3 years applies where the victim depicted is 14 to 18 years of age (Article 9(6)(d)). Article 9 states imprisonment terms only; no fine or monetary amount is stated for this article, so no penalty_structure is recorded.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Ministério Público (public prosecution), through the ordinary criminal courts
What it reaches
Obligation class
Prohibition
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 9 criminalises, through a computer system: producing child pornography with the purpose of disseminating it (2 to 8 years' imprisonment, paragraph 1); offering or making it available (1 to 5 years, paragraph 2); disseminating or transmitting it (1 to 5 years, paragraph 3); obtaining it for oneself or another (1 to 4 years, paragraph 4); and possessing it in any way (1 to 4 years, paragraph 5).
Paragraph 6 defines child pornography for these purposes as any pornographic material that visually represents: (a) a person under 14 years of age, or an incapable person, for exhibitionist purposes or involved in sexually explicit conduct; (b) a person 14 to 18 years of age involved in sexually explicit conduct; or (c) any representation, by any means, of a child under 18 performing real or simulated explicit sexual activities, or any representation of a child's sexual organs for a predominantly sexual purpose.
Paragraph 6(c)'s inclusion of a simulated representation reaches a computer-generated, AI-synthesised, or otherwise fabricated depiction of a child in sexually explicit activity on the same terms as a depiction of a real child, without requiring that an actual child be shown or that the material derive from a real event. Paragraph 6(d) sets a reduced penalty of up to three years' imprisonment where the victim depicted is 14 to 18 years of age.
Article 9 binds any person ("Quem"), not only an online service or platform. The Law was approved by the Assembleia Nacional on 25 January 2017, promulgated by the President of the Republic on 3 March 2017, and published in the Boletim Oficial of 20 March 2017; its own Article 33 provides that it enters into force 30 days after publication.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Text of Lei n.º 8/IX/2017 de 20 de Março (Lei do Cibercrime)
reproduced in the Assembleia Nacional de Cabo Verde's own compiled Coletânea de Legislação, Vol. I, Leis - Parte I 2016-2017