It is reported that the government requires internet service providers, whether local or foreign, to turn over source code.

Equatorial Guinea does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. In particular, the country has established provisions addressing disclosure, acquisition or use of confidential information in the course of industrial or commercial activities by third parties in Art. 6 of Annex VIII of the Bangui Agreement, which has been ratified by 17 States, including Equatorial Guinea in 2002.

Art. 31 of the Ministerial Order No. 3/2020 requires economic agents operating public networks to facilitate access to their network centres and allow facility sharing.

The government owns shares in certain telecom companies. In particular, the main operator, Guinea Ecuatorial de Telecomunicaciones Sociedad Anónima (GETESA), is fully state-owned, although, in April 2022, the government announced plans for its privatisation. The government also owns 51% of Guinea Ecuatorial de Comunicaciones Sociedad Anónima (GECOMSA).

Equatorial Guinea does not mandate functional or accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

The licensing regime in the telecom sector is regulated by Law No. 7/2005 and Ministerial Order No. 3/2020. Chapter IV of Law No. 7/2005 contains the regime of concessions and authorisations, which is further detailed in the Ministerial Order. According to Art. 34 of the Ministerial Order, certain telecom activities that are classified as "essential public telecommunications/ICT services" are subject to public service obligations, including financing the universal service and contributing to the Telecommunications Development Fund (Art. 36). Among others, the following are considered essential public telecommunications/ICT services: fixed telephony, broadband, 2G; 3G; 4G; and 5G mobile telephony and data services (Art. 6). Additionally, carrier services for the provision of voice, data, and broadband, as well as broadcasting services and their respective networks, are also considered essential.

Equatorial Guinea has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments as it is not a member of the WTO.

Equatorial Guinea has a telecommunications authority: the Oficina Reguladora de las Telecomunicaciones (ORTEL). However, its decision-making process is not fully independent of the government. Art. 22 of Law 7/2005 establishes ORTEL as a technical advisory body on telecommunications matters, with its own legal personality, under the aegis of the Ministry responsible for telecommunications.

Arts. 27 and 28 of Law No. 1/2016 provide that organisations may not transfer any personal information to countries that fail to provide a legally equivalent level of protection unless the transfer has been previously authorised by the Governing Body for the Protection of Personal Data or under some exceptions, such as consent or contractual necessity. It is reported that the Governing Body for the Protection of Personal Data has not yet been established, and there is no list of legally equivalent countries.

Equatorial Guinea has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Law No. 1/2016 on the Protection of Personal Data provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Equatorial Guinea. The Data Protection Authority (the Governing Body for the Protection of Personal Data) established by Law No. 1/2016, however, is not yet operational and, as such, many provisions within the Data Protection Law are of limited effect.
Apart from Law No. 1/2016, the Electronic Communications Law (Law No. 2/2016 of 22 July 2016) regulates the domestic handling of data in the framework of electronic communications and networks, as well as several other laws and sectoral directives containing relevant provisions.

According to the Bangui Agreement, ratified by 17 States, including Equatorial Guinea, applicants resident outside the territory of the Member States must file through an agent selected in one of those Member States (Section III, Art. 8). The professional status of agent accredited to the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) is governed by the Regulations on the Profession of Authorised Agent before the OAPI.

Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II) as it is not a member of the WTO.