40
Dictating the Internet:
More recently, legal measures to regulate information on online
platforms have been used to censor expression and information online.
Meanwhile, laws aiming to control the spread of disinformation online and
to protect cybersecurity have been advanced, despite serious concerns
that these laws will result in further suppression of online expression and
information.111
The ICJ has identified nine areas where legal frameworks have been
drafted and interpreted to unduly regulate expression and information online
in ways that are not human rights compliant. By organizing the analysis in
this manner, we hope to highlight commonalities across the region – both
in the laws themselves as well as the arbitrary ways in which they have
been implemented.
These are:
i.
Laws which aim to protect the reputation of legal persons
ii.
Laws which aim to protect the reputation of the monarchy
iii.
Laws on sedition
iv.
Laws which aim to protect the security of the nation or public order
v.
Laws which aim to protect the courts
*
vi.
Laws which aim to regulate information online
vii. Laws which aim to control the spread of “disinformation” online
viii. Laws which aim to protect cybersecurity
ix.
Laws abused to justify internet shutdowns
111 This report is not an exhaustive representation of laws in the countries identified in this paper
which have been abused to control free expression and information online. It presents only a
partial reflection of deteriorating conditions in Southeast Asia. In the interests of brevity, this
paper only highlights selected laws in selected countries and selected cases towards evidencing a
regional trend, noting that there has been misuse of measures other than those identified in this
report – including non-legal measures – to restrict freedom of expression, opinion and information
online.