So if it’s libel and you used a cell phone, it’s called cyber-libel. So [it’s not just] the cyber-libel [provision that] is problematic, the libel law itself is. For many years, journalists have been calling for the decriminalization of libel. [And now] you add another dimension to that by criminalizing cyber-libel. Authorities can now use the law to persecute and prosecute, not just journalists, but ordinary citizens. (interview, 2021) A prominent case concerning cyber-libel took place in 2020, when the well-known Filipino journalist and executive editor of the online news website Rappler, Maria Ressa, was found guilty of cyber-libel. A former writer and researcher, Reynaldo Santos Jr., was also found guilty. This prominent case made headlines internationally, and raised fears about the consequences of the verdict for freedom of expression and press freedom in the Philippines (Ratcliffe 2020b). Furthermore, empowering the state with the ability to legislate truth and falsehood increases the power imbalance between the government and those who may try to push back against state narratives. Kirsten Han observed some of the challenges that journalists face due to Singapore’s POFMA: I think you become quite aware that you’re quite vulnerable. Because [the government] gets to say what is fake news. Particularly when I work on issues that might be sensitive, like prisoners’ rights, like police conduct—when people make comments about the police, policing powers, and they make allegations about prison officers or police officers misbehaving, then it’s very difficult to tell those sorts of stories. Because it’s so hard to prove. For example, I did a story about a prisoner who said that he was being bullied in prison. But as a journalist, I don’t have access to prison, because the government controls that as well. I can’t interview him directly. I interviewed his mother. And all the prisoners, the former prisoners whom I interviewed, who backed him up, don’t have documentation on this. They say things like, “Oh, I wrote it down. But when I was released from prison, they took the notebook.” So as a journalist, that makes me quite nervous. Because it’s important enough to tell the story, but how can you tell it without being POFMA’d? I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH Because if they just say, “Well, that’s not true,” it’s very hard to respond to that. Because they have all the access to information and data as well. There’s no independent oversight into things like prison or police. So if they say it’s not true, then there’s not a lot that we can do. So that’s a big problem. I think POFMA just adds to that. And I think NGOs that deal with sensitive topics like sex workers, or LGBT people have to grapple with that as well. (interview, 2021) Arbitrary and politically motivated enforcement of laws and prosecution is another concern. For example, it has been argued that Sri Lanka’s ICCPR Act has been used to target religious minorities, while members of the Buddhist clergy who have made incendiary statements have not been prosecuted (Mahamoor 2019). Qadaruddin Shishir from Bangladesh observed: “If I am a normal citizen or a journalist, if some website writes some random fake news about me, [I can] go to the police and report my case, but there will be no action against those perpetrators, criminals or those information spreaders. But if I am [highly] connected, to a political party or government people, then I can have a remedy” (interview, 2021). Lack of genuine public consultation about such laws is another issue. Shmyla Khan of the Digital Rights Foundation recalled the public consultations around the cybercrime law in Pakistan: We had written input, but there were also inperson consultations. Meetings were called in Islamabad, [and] civil society had access to some of them. For example, the Minister of IT was present at some of the meetings. We did have access to high-level [officials] at the government’s meetings, and some consultations we did on our own. For example, we had certain senators or members of the national assembly attending who were sympathetic to a civilsociety-led consultation. They could come in and see what the trends were and a lot of them did raise objections, [which] we talked about later on. But that was a small minority of lawmakers. I think a big issue is [that] the government will invite you for consultations after you make some noise. But eventually, the draft that comes out discards most of what you said. So, there’s this question of how do we ensure that those consultations are meaningful, rather than just being an eyewash. (interview, 2021) In addition, media regulation legislation can drive up censorship. For example, in the Central Asian Asia – 2 2 3