Mali does not have a legal framework that applies consumer protection to online transactions. According to Art. 2 of Law No. 2015-036 on Consumer Protection, the law does not include the protection of consumers for goods and services online.

Mali has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Mali does not implement any de minimis threshold, which is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties. However, it is reported that there is an informal threshold of USD 100.

Art. 86 of Ordinance No. 11-023/P-RM establishes penalties for the export or import of means of cryptology without authorization, with a penalty of imprisonment of six months to one year and a fine of 10,000,000 CFA francs (USD 16,300 approx) to 20,000,000 CFA francs (USD 32,700 approx). In addition, the court may prohibit the offender from applying for authorization for a maximum of two years and order the confiscation of the cryptology means.

According to Art. 63 of Ordinance No. 11-023/P-RM, telecom equipment intended to be connected to a telecommunications network open to the public must undergo prior approval to ensure compliance with the essential requirements and to verify conformity with the technical standards and specifications in force in Mali. Approval is required in all cases for radio installations, whether or not they are intended for such a network, and the Authority establishes the criteria and admission procedure for assessing the technical qualifications of persons responsible for installing, commissioning, and maintaining terminal equipment.

The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 2 in Mali. This corresponds to "The government shut down domestic access to the Internet several times this year."

Several cases of web content blocking are reported in Mali. These include:
- Following a demonstration in 2016, it is reported that access to social networks (Twitter and Facebook) was interrupted. Viber and WhatsApp also experienced disruptions;
- Social media was reportedly shut down in June 2018 following demonstrations;
- In July 2018, during presidential elections, it was reported that social networks were inaccessible. A WhatsApp and Twitter block was reported, along with two circumvention tool sites (guardianproject.info and anonymizer.ru);
- Social media and messaging were partially blocked for five days in July 2020 amid protests. Social networking platforms Twitter and Facebook and messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger were restricted with Mali's leading private operator Orange Mali. The cellular network of national telecom operator Malitel also restricted Instagram. Filtering was also comprehensive, with indications of near total impact. The Internet measures were implemented at the ISP level, with each company applying them differently;
- The French broadcasters RFI and France 24 were definitively banned in April 2022.

The operators of telecommunications networks open to the public and telecommunications/ICT service providers are required at the time of subscription to proceed with the identification of subscribers under (Art. 9) of Ordinance No. 11-023/P-RM of 28 September 2011 relating to telecommunications and information and communication technologies.

According to Art. 78 of Law No. 2016-012/ of May 6, 2016, relating to electronic transactions, exchanges, and services. When offering a service that involves transmitting information via a communication network or facilitating access to it, the service provider bears no responsibility for the transmitted information. This exemption applies as long as the provider meets specific criteria: they are not the source of the transmission, do not choose the recipient of the information, and do not select or modify the content being transmitted. The transmission and access provision activities referred to in the first paragraph of this article include the automatic, intermediate and transient storage of the information transmitted, provided that this storage is used exclusively for the execution of the transmission on the communication network. and that its duration does not exceed the time reasonably necessary for the transmission.

According to Art. 78 of Law No. 2016-012/ of May 6, 2016, relating to electronic transactions, exchanges, and services. When offering a service that involves transmitting information via a communication network or facilitating access to it, the service provider bears no responsibility for the transmitted information. This exemption applies as long as the provider meets specific criteria: they are not the source of the transmission, do not choose the recipient of the information, and do not select or modify the content being transmitted. The transmission and access provision activities referred to in the first paragraph of this article include the automatic, intermediate and transient storage of the information transmitted, provided that this storage is used exclusively for the execution of the transmission on the communication network. and that its duration does not exceed the time reasonably necessary for the transmission.

Mali has not joined any free trade agreement committing to open cross-border data flow transfers.

Mali has legislation for the protection of personal data. The Law No. 2017-070 of 18 December 2017 amending Law No. 2013-015 of 21 May 2013 on the protection of Personal Data in the Republic of Mali governs the sector. Also, the country has a Personal Data Protection Authority (APDP), provided for by this law in force.

According to Art. 11 of Law No. 2013-015, Mali authorizes the transfer of personal data to a foreign State when:
- The receiving State ensures a sufficient level of protection of individuals, indicated by the Authority in charge of the protection of personal data, due to its domestic legislation or commitments made at the international level and that these measures are effectively implemented.
- By decision of the Authority in charge of the protection of personal data, when the transfer and processing by the recipient of the personal data ensures a sufficient level of protection of privacy, as well as of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, in particular, due to the contractual clauses or internal rules to which it is subject.

Pursuant to Art. 9 of Law No. 2013-015, the processing of sensitive data, understood as any data of a personal nature relating to religious, philosophical, political, or trade union opinions or activities, sex, race, health, social measures, prosecutions, and criminal or administrative charges, is prohibited. However, sensitive data may be processed with appropriate safeguards defined by the Authority in charge of personal data protection if the data is necessary or used to safeguard the person's life, used by a non-profit organisation, or in the context of a judicial action.
Processing of personal data is defined as any operation or set of operations carried out by means of automated or non-automated processes and applied to data, such as collecting, exploiting, recording, organizing, storing, adapting, modifying, retrieving, saving, copying, consulting, using, communicating by transmission, disseminating or otherwise making available, bringing together or interconnecting, as well as blocking, encrypting, deleting or destroying personal data.

Mali has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.