According to Art. 69 of Decree-Law No. 35, telecom operators and providers, in coordination with authorities, must implement technical measures to minimise risks associated with their networks and services. They must also interrupt services if used to harm other operators or countries, transmit false, offensive, or harmful information, or content that is sexual, discriminatory, harassing, invades privacy, or affects personal dignity, identity, integrity, public morality, public order, or is used for illegal acts, irrespective of any resulting criminal, civil, or administrative liability.

It is reported that certain messaging applications showed signs of blocking during the period from 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2025.
The blockings are most likely implemented in accordance with Art. 69 of Decree-Law No. 35/2021, which stipulates that public telecommunications and ICT service operators and providers, in coordination with the competent authorities, shall implement technical operational and supervisory measures to minimise the risks associated with the use of their networks and services, or to suspend such services when they are employed in a manner that affects the networks or services of other operators or countries. This includes instances in which such networks or services are used to disseminate false or offensive information, material detrimental to human dignity, sexual or discriminatory content, or content that incites harassment; that infringes personal or family privacy, or compromises an individual’s image, voice, identity, integrity, or honour; that threatens collective security, general welfare, public morality, or respect for public order; or that serves as a means for committing unlawful acts, irrespective of any ensuing criminal, civil, or administrative liability.

The indicator "7.2.4 - 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 Cuba for the year 2024. This corresponds to "The government shut down domestic access to the Internet several times this year."

Art. 19 of Decree No. 102/2024 stipulates that proprietors of digital mass media must seek authorisation from the president of the Institute of Information and Social Communication to insert and disseminate advertising, and in doing so must specify the distinctive features and intended scope of the proposed advertising activities. In addition, Art. 115.1.i provides that, in relation to advertising in cyberspace, access to content across digital platforms, applications, video games, or any other software may not be conditioned upon the user’s acceptance of advertising messages.

Art. 68.f of Decree‑Law No. 370/2018 stipulates that hosting a website on servers located in a foreign country, except where such hosting functions solely as a mirror or replica of the primary website situated on servers within national territory, constitutes a violation related to ICT. Similarly, Art. 82 of Decree No. 360/2019 provides that when, due to connectivity requirements or other considerations, an entity must host a website on servers outside the country, this may only be undertaken as a mirror or replica of the principal website hosted on servers in Cuba. It further requires the adoption of all necessary measures to guarantee the security of the website, particularly during the process of updating information. In addition, Art. 83 establishes that an entity’s network servers intended to facilitate external access and those intended for internal use must be installed in distinct areas of the network in order to prevent any connection between them.

Art. 19 of the Foreign Investment Law stipulates that, for the establishment of an international economic association, the national investor must negotiate with the foreign investor every aspect of the investment, including its economic feasibility, the respective contributions of the parties, the proposed governance and administrative structure, and the legal instruments required for its formalisation. In the case of a wholly foreign‑owned enterprise, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment designates the Cuban entity responsible for the relevant sector, subsector, or economic activity with which the investor must examine the proposal and from which written approval must be obtained. Art. 20 provides that the Cuban State authorises only those foreign investments that do not compromise national defence and security, the nation’s patrimony, or the environment. Art. 21 further establishes that approval to undertake foreign investments within national territory is granted, depending on the sector, modality, and characteristics of the proposed investment, by one of the following organs of the State: the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, or the head of the competent body of the Central State Administration authorised for this purpose.

According to Art. 15.4 of Decree-Law No. 290/2012, an agent residing in Cuba must mediate in the event that the patent applicant does not have a domicile or real and effective industrial establishment or commercial establishment in Cuba.

Cuba is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). However, the country does not consider itself bound by Art. 59 related to disputes.

Cuba has a copyright regime under the Law No. 154 of 2022. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 86 lists the exceptions, including the use of: creations in accessible formats for persons with disabilities, to the extent required by them; conferences, speeches and other works of the same nature, broadcast in public, when such use is justified by the informative purpose pursued; creations resulting from academic or research activities, such as degree works, science, technology and innovation projects, academic articles; among others.

Copyright is not adequately enforced online in Cuba. It has been reported that grassroots digital innovations, such as El Paquete Semanal, have facilitated access to extensive collections of frequently pirated digital content, relying on implicit government tolerance. It is also reported that the issue of piracy becomes even more complex on state-run digital platforms in Cuba, where foreign series, movies, and other materials are distributed. A notable example in the telecommunications sector is the illegal use of Windows, as the country lacks the means to obtain licenses. This situation extends to other content broadcast on television and to tools such as Office, the Adobe suite, and many others.

Cuba has not adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Cuba has not adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonogram Treaty.

Decree-Law No. 337 provides a framework for effective protection of trade secrets.

Art. 55 of Decree-Law No. 35 stipulates that there is a mandate for operators to share certain resources associated with ducts, conduits, towers, poles, and other facilities. Art. 29 defines passive telecommunications infrastructures as installations that are primarily composed of towers, masts, poles, ducts, channels, conduits, chambers, cables, and dark fibre, among other components, and which are situated in various locations, including aerial, terrestrial, underground, submarine, or underwater.

The Cuban telecommunications framework is defined by the prohibition of private provision of internet and mobile services and by the concentration of control in the state-owned operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), through which all internet access is channelled and whose subsidiary Cubacel serves as the sole mobile provider. This structure is legally reinforced by Art. 1 of Decree No. 124/2025, which grants ETECSA an administrative concession to provide public telecommunications services nationwide, while Art. 3 defines the scope of those services to include basic telephony, signal-carrying services, data transmission, and terrestrial mobile cellular telecommunications, and Art. 4.1 establishes an exclusivity period extending until 2036. In parallel, the Annex of Decree No. 107, specifically activities 65 and 66, prohibits private micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, non-agricultural cooperatives, and self-employed workers from providing public internet access or related services.