College Students' Perceptions Toward Jordanian Cybercrime Law

Abstract

This study analyzes the perspectives of Jordanian college students regarding the Jordanian cybercrimes law (JCL). The study sample consisted of 494 Jordanian students from four universities in Jordan (TTU, MU, JU, and BU). Among these, 43% were male, and 57% were female. The reliability, as measured by the method Cronbach's α, was 0.95, while the validity, indicated by the correlation with the low self-control (LSC) scale, was 0.309 (α = 0.00, F = 11.981, α = 0.00). More than 25% of the sample scrutinized the JCL and observed the politicization of the law. Moreover, three-quarters of the sample received information about it. Over fifty percent of the sample observed illegal activities online that warranted penalization. Fewer than 10% of the sample engaged with the JCL or participated in an online action that warranted penalty. More than a quarter of the sample (26.9%) viewed the law negatively; of them, 10.7% were males and 16.2% were females. Regreasing gender, net use, perpetration, knowledge, cyber extremism, and LSC explained 31% (R² = .313) of the variance in college students perceptions toward Jordanian cybercrime law. Table 2 showed that the overall effect of gender, net use, perpetration, knowledge, cyber extremism, and LSC was significant (F = 37.053, α = .000). Table 3 showed the unique contribution of each variable. Each variable significantly influenced college students' perceptions of Jordanian cybercrime law. except the gender. We discussed the educational, legal, and security implications.