138 Dictating the Internet: criminalized the “obtaining of any data considered to be confidential and which are specifically protected against unauthorized access” – which neither included protections for individuals who had received such information by mistake, nor protected against content released in the public interest, such as information gleaned from journalistic reporting.545 The second draft further provided, as with Thailand’s Cybersecurity Act, for broad powers for the police to investigate “cybercrimes”, search and seize property of suspect individuals, and failed to ensure independent and impartial oversight or procedural safeguards.546 Cambodia’s efforts to draft a Cybercrime Law is informative in showing how the government sought to include broad defamation, sedition and national security-linked offences as potential “cybercrimes”, as well as an example of how the law-making process was strongly influenced by other laws in the region – namely Thailand’s Cybersecurity Act. In July 2019, it was reported that the Ministries of Justice and Interior were reviewing the draft of the Cybercrime Law.547 At the time of this publication of this report, it remained unclear as to what exactly the law would regulate or criminalize online as an official draft of the law has not been released for public consultation. ix. Laws abused to justify internet shutdowns States in the region face genuine challenges such as proliferation of hate speech and incitement to violence online, online disinformation and threats of cyber-attacks. While the above sections have looked into laws brought into force to purportedly combat online disinformation and protect cybersecurity, this section analyzes how the Telecommunications Law in Myanmar has allowed the government to shut down the internet to purportedly ensure public order in response to proliferation of hate speech and incitement to violence online. In addition, this section also addresses Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, where it was not even clear which laws were used to justify police requests to shut down the internet in the interests of ensuring public order. These shutdowns occurred without prior notice to the public and without clear justifications provided by the authorities to explain precise policy and legislative aims behind such measures. 545 Ibid. 546 Ibid. 547 Mech Dara, ‘Ministries review content of draft law on cybercrime’, Phnom Penh Post, 12 July 2019, Available at: https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministries-review-content-draft-lawcybercrime