Rights campaigners say new cybersecurity laws regulating social media in Southeast Asia are allowing increased data surveillance and a crackdown on dissent under the pretext of fighting "fake news."
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A wave of recently introduced laws in countries across Southeast Asia has increased authorities' control over the internet and criminalized any online activity deemed to be "subversive."
Governments say the regulations have been introduced to combat the spread of false information online. The role of misinformation in the 2016 US presidential election, the most high-profile example of the threat of fake news, has paved the way for fake news laws enacted by other governments.
However, human rights groups in Southeast Asia warn that these laws are ripe for abuse.
Emilie Pradichit, director of the Thailand-based human rights group Manushya Foundation, said the laws are an attempt by governments "to maintain their power and control by manipulating information to their advantage."
The US human rights watchdog Freedom House in its latest Freedom on the Net report in 2018 listed every Southeast Asian country as "not free" or "partly free."
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Germany has passed a new law on social media in 2017, despite complaints from social media companies worried about the impact on their business. But how far is too far? DW examines the trends.
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Free speech or illegal content?
Whether hate speech, propaganda or activism, governments across the globe have upped efforts to curb content deemed illegal from circulating on social networks. From drawn-out court cases to blanket bans, DW examines how some countries try to stop the circulation of illicit content while others attempt to regulate social media.
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Social media law
After a public debate in Germany, a new law on social media came into effect in October. The legislation imposes heavy fines on social media companies, such as Facebook, for failing to take down posts containing hate speech. Facebook and other social media companies have complained about the law, saying that harsh rules might lead to unnecessary censorship.
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Right to be forgotten
In 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that European citizens had the right to request search engines, such as Google and Bing, remove "inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive" search results linked to their name. Although Google has complied with the ruling, it has done so reluctantly, warning that it could make the internet as "free as the world's least free place."
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Blanket ban
In May 2017, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Russian social media platforms and web services. The blanket ban affected millions of Ukrainian citizens, many of whom were anxious about their data. The move prompted young Ukrainians to protest on the streets, calling for the government to reinstate access to platforms that included VKontakte (VK), Russia's largest social network.
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Safe Harbor
In 2015, the European Court of Justice ruled that Safe Harbor, a 15-year-old pact between the US and EU that allowed the transfer of personal data without prior approval, was effectively invalid. Austrian law student Max Schrems launched the legal proceedings against Facebook in response to revelations made by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, Edward Snowden.
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Regulation
In China, the use of social media is highly regulated by the government. Beijing has effectively blocked access to thousands of websites and platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Instead, China offers its citizens access to local social media platforms, such as Weibo and WeChat, which boast hundreds of millions of monthly users.
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Twitter bans Russia-linked accounts
Many politicians and media outlets blame Russia's influence for Donald Trump's election victory in 2016. Moscow reportedly used Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Instagram to shape public opinion on key issues. In October 2017, Twitter suspended over 2,750 accounts due to alleged Russian propaganda. The platform also banned ads from RT (formerly Russia Today) and the Sputnik news agency.
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Facebook announces propaganda-linked tool
With social media under pressure for allowing alleged Russian meddling, Facebook announced a new project to combat such efforts in November 2017. The upcoming page will give users a chance to check if they "liked" or followed an alleged propaganda account on Facebook or Instagram. Meanwhile, Facebook has come under fire for not protecting user data in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
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Singapore's anti-fake news bill came into effect on October 2 amid concerns that it provides broad powers for the government to police online speech.
Vietnam enacted its cybersecurity law in January 2019, placing stringent controls on tech firms including setting up offices in the country, storing data locally and complying with Hanoi's demands to delete content on social media.
In Cambodia, a regulation was signed in May 2018 allowing investigation of media websites spreading what it considers fake news ahead of the national election, which saw Prime Minister Hun Sen re-elected to a sixth term.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), said that fake news has been "inflated to be the 21st century bogeyman that all people should fear."
The excuse of fake news has "become the new rationale to censor anything a government does not like that appears on the internet," said Robertson.
There are legitimate fears among campaigners that the law will allow ministers to unilaterally determine what false information is and criminalize its distribution online, which could serve as an example for authoritarians, he added.
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Thailand vulnerable
The Thai government is also poised to use fake news to accuse critics of disseminating false information. The Thai government is planning to open a dedicated center to combat fake news on social media platforms by November 1.
Rights groups have voiced concerns that this would further curtail free speech in Thailand, which has been stifled since the 2014 coup.
"Thailand is clearly going down the rights-abusing path of Singapore when it comes to handling so-called fake news," said Robertson.
The move shows "the government's efforts to further restrict online freedom by controlling netizens' online content, through a 'legitimized' anti-fake news center," said Pradichit.
HRW's Robertson said Thailand's fake news center "will only serve to institute internet censorship based on vague and general definitions made by politicized officers keen to end any criticism of the government."
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Activist arrested
The Thai Ministry of Digital Economy and Society dismissed these concerns, and said there would be a focus on public participation with a new website for netizens to report fake news.
The ministry told DW it is cooperating with Facebook, Google and Line chat application, as well as mobile operators such as AIS, True and DTAC for cooperation.
Thailand has already imposed a string of laws to clamp down on dissent and opposition views — including the recently enacted Cybersecurity Act, the Computer Crime Act and the long-standing lese-majeste law.
These laws have already targeted activists. On October 8, pro-democracy campaigner Karn Pongpraphapan was arrested for posting "inappropriate content" which "stirred hatred," according to a police statement.
He was charged under cybercrime laws, which punish anyone sharing online content that "poses a threat to national security." Pongpraphapan had allegedly written a Facebook post about the fall of European monarchs, without mentioning or referring to the Thai royal family.
That same week, Thai Digital Economy Minister Puttipong Punnakan required coffee shop owners to store customers' browsing data for at least 90 days as part of the campaign against fake news.
Bangladesh's 'death squad' security agency to scan social media
The government is looking to task a controversial paramilitary force with monitoring social media as the country prepares to soon hold a general election. Many fear the move will further muzzle free speech in Bangladesh.
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Tarnished reputation
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) was formed in 2004 to battle growing Islamism in Bangladesh. It initially managed to arrest or kill some top terrorists. But it did not take long for RAB's good reputation to be tarnished as it slowly became a symbol of fear. It's now seen as an all-powerful "death squad" unit that acts on the fringes of the law and imposes its own brand of justice.
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Facebook, YouTube under scrutiny
The South Asian nation's government has been planning to spend about 1.21 billion Bangladeshi taka (€12 million, $13.9 million) on the monitoring project, according to DW's local media partner bdnews24.com. The project will allow RAB to monitor activities like anti-state propaganda, rumors and provocations on Facebook, YouTube, Viber as well as other means of communication on the internet.
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Calls for international pressure
Tasneem Khalil, a Swedish-Bangladeshi journalist, reminds that RAB has already been used for detaining government critics for their comments on Facebook. "Now such cases will multiply," he said, adding: ''International actors, especially the EU, must take concrete action and sanction this force, which is a tool for curtailing freedoms and liberties of ordinary citizens in the country."
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New law to curtail press freedom
The Bangladeshi government has recently come up with a new law, the Digital Security Act, which contains provisions mandating long prison sentences of up to seven years or harsh fines for any statement posted online that might disrupt the law and order situation, hurt religious feelings or ruin communal harmony. Experts consider the law as part of a broader campaign to silence government critics.
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Media protest
In a rare move, prominent newspaper editors of the Muslim-majority country on Monday formed a human chain in front of the national press club in the capital Dhaka demanding amendments to nine sections of the Digital Security Act. They say these sections pose a threat to independent journalism and the freedom of expression. But the government has yet to respond to those demands.
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Journalism can be viewed as 'espionage'
A journalist could be convicted of espionage for entering a government office and gathering information secretly using any electronic device, an offense that would carry a 14-year jail sentence, according to the new law. Mahfuz Anam, a prominent editor, said, "This law will not only deal with cybercrimes but also gag the independent media."
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Harsh treatment
Despite global condemnation, Bangladesh, which ranked 146th among 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index 2018, has kept prominent activist Shahidul Alam behind bars. He was arrested in August following his criticism of the government for using excessive force against peaceful student protesters. Activists view his arrest as a sign of the government's harsh treatment of its critics.
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Risk to freedom of speech
Free speech campaigners have urged authorities to apply the laws reasonably and proportionally. Any perceived harm caused from spreading false information "should not just be towards what is broadly identified as 'national security', but instead something that damages individuals' security and human rights," said Pradichit.
The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), a digital literacy and advocacy, said increasing online media literacy is crucial in protecting users from prosecution.
"We hope that Thailand's news verification center will be administered with transparency and impartiality, as well as with due process, in order to safeguard meaningful public discourse," said Jeff Paine, managing director of the AIC.
Robertson hopes that other Southeast Asian countries will "come to their senses before it is too late, and follow the Malaysian model that recognizes existing laws are more than adequate to deal with the so-called 'fake news' phenomenon."
Unlike other countries in the region, Malaysia repealed its much-criticized Anti-Fake News Act passed in 2018 by former Prime Minister Najib Razak.
"People in countries at risk of facing one of these laws must see through the government propaganda, which says that such laws will protect people," said Robertson," adding that people need to recognize the laws are about "putting virtually unrestricted, big brother-style censorship authority in the hands of governments."
