Regulatory Agency Can Arrest for Speech

This provision grants Cybersecurity Authority officers police powers including arrest, search, and seizure authority—the same powers as Police Officers under Ghana's criminal procedure laws. When combined with the bill's new cyberbullying and online harassment offenses (which criminalize "spreading false information" and "threatening messages"), this creates a severe chilling effect on online expression. Unlike independent police who operate under parliamentary oversight, Authority officers answer to a Director-General appointed by the President and can arrest individuals for speech offenses based on their own assessment, without independent review. This concentration of regulatory, investigative, and enforcement powers over online speech in a single agency violates democratic norms requiring separation of these functions.