Laws curtailing freedom of expression in Tanzania & Indonesia
Promoting digital rights in Pakistan
Hey Checklisters!
We hope you’re staying safe and healthy.
This week The Checklist takes a look at laws that are repressive and enable governments to police social media and curtail the right to freedom of expression of citizens. In Tanzania, a number of newly enacted and existing laws are drawing criticism from digital rights and civil society stakeholders for impinging upon people’s freedom of expression. In Indonesia, a new criminal code heavily extends the government’s reach over online speech — not just in traditional media outlets, but on social media platforms. In Tunisia, prosecutors are investigating critics under a repressive new cyber law which is just the latest attack on human rights legislative safeguards by President Saied.
This week in The Checklist, we bring you an interview with Shmyla Khan, Director of Research and Policy at the Digital Rights Foundation. Shmyla talks to us about her experience promoting digital rights in Pakistan and throughout South Asia, and her insights on the gendered dimensions of digital security and emerging challenges around online electoral violence.
Also, take a look at the Townsquare section where we share opportunities and events.
The Checklist will take a short break and will be back in January 2023. In the new year, if there are updates you would like us to share from your country or region, please reach out to us at checklist@meedan.com.
Q&A with Meedan partner Digital Rights Foundation on digital rights and gender violence in South Asia
Meedan partner Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) is a research-based advocacy NGO that aims to strengthen protections for human rights defenders in digital spaces through policy advocacy and raising awareness of digital security. In this blogpost, we speak to Shmyla Khan, Director of Research and Policy at DRF, about her experience promoting digital rights in Pakistan and throughout South Asia, and her insights on the gendered dimensions of digital security and emerging challenges around online electoral violence.
What are the new threats and security risks that you are seeing within the South Asia context?
In South Asia we are seeing governments increase controls over content moderation and attempt to pass data protection legislation that seeks to increase state control over social media and the digital sphere. As digital connectivity increases throughout South Asia, albeit unevenly, and our lives become increasingly more digitised, digital safety, data protection and safeguards from online harassment will become more critical and urgent.
The Check Global Report
By Meedan’s Check Global team in Beirut, Belo Horizonte, Kochi, Bhimtal, and Nairobi
Tunisia: Cybercrime law investigations expose new threats to freedom of expression (Amnesty International)
Tunisian judicial officials are investigating the editor of a news outlet and a prominent lawyer over their public criticism of top government officials, in addition to a university student, whose Facebook page covers a neighbourhood that has recently seen police clash with protesters. They could face heavy prison sentences under a decree-Law on Cybercrime issued by President Kais Saied.
“With the world turning its eyes to Tunisia’s parliamentary election at the end of the week, the authorities should be doing everything they can to ensure a pre-election environment that welcomes free expression and particularly dissent. Yet prosecutors are instead investigating critics under a repressive new cyberlaw which is just the latest attack on human rights legislative safeguards by President Saied.” — Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa
Freedom of expression in Tanzania is on a downward spiral (Global Voices)
Tanzania's constitution guarantees freedom of expression for every citizen, but this inalienable right has continuously been undermined by the continuous passing and enacting of a series of repressive regulations over the years. A number of newly enacted and existing laws enable the government to police social media and curtail the right to freedom of expression of Tanzanians, drawing criticism from digital rights and civil society stakeholders.
The passing of the Tanzania Cybercrimes Act of 2015 drew sharp criticism from digital rights stakeholders. Stakeholders felt that the law would be used by state actors to muzzle the right to freedom of expression online. Rightly so, it didn’t take long before five Tanzanians were separately charged with insulting the late President John Magufuli on social media in 2016. The law was enforced again in 2021 when four people were arrested on allegations of spreading false reports on social media that claimed that President John Magufuli was seriously ill.
Indonesia’s new criminal code bans online insults of the president (Rest of World)
On December 6, Indonesia’s parliament passed a criminal code that drew wide criticism for criminalizing premarital sex and cohabitation outside marriage, among other practices. But the code, known as KUHP, also heavily extends the government’s reach over online speech — not just in traditional media outlets, but on social media platforms.
The bill sets out new or strengthened controls on a wide array of actions, from spreading fake news and Marxist-Leninist ideology to insulting the president. Rest of World spoke to activists, online publishers, and social media users, who feared that by the time the bill goes into full effect in 2025, critical commentary would come with harsh consequences — or that the threat of repercussion would prevent the expression of anything remotely critical at all.
Tips to determine who's funding online ads linked to disinformation (International Journalists’ Network)
Websites that facilitate disinformation often employ a combination of revenue sources. By pinpointing streams of profit, journalists can find the players and trace the networks responsible for funding false content online. Identifying those who perpetuate disinformation is integral to debunking lies and uncovering the truth. In the first of four master classes held in partnership with the Knight Center, ProPublica reporter Craig Silverman covered the bases for identifying online ads linked to disinformation, and mapping the funders behind them.
“Disinformation was once thought to be organic, but now we realize it is organized with very specific goals in mind." — Rosental Alves, founding director for the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas
The viral AI avatar app Lensa undressed me—without my consent (MIT Technology Review)
My avatars were cartoonishly pornified, while my male colleagues got to be astronauts, explorers, and inventors.
“Lensa is the first hugely popular app to be developed from Stable Diffusion, and it won’t be the last. It might seem fun and innocent, but there’s nothing stopping people from using it to generate nonconsensual nude images of women based on their social media images, or to create naked images of children. The stereotypes and biases it’s helping to further embed can also be hugely detrimental to how women and girls see themselves and how others see them”. — Aylin Caliskan, an assistant professor at the University of Washington who studies biases and representation in AI systems.
Townsquare
For the first time in a decade, the World News Media Congress will be hosted in Asia, this time in the vibrant city of Taipei, Taiwan from 28-30 June 2023. While news interest and consumption are high, sustainability, democratic freedoms and truth are at risk. Join your fellow community of news executives, experts and forward-thinkers to share experiences, celebrate successes and seek solutions for a better future. You can find more information here.
Fund for Indigenous Journalists: To bring awareness to the crisis of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Transgender people (MMIWG2T), the Howard G. Buffett Foundation has given the IWMF a $750,000 grant to establish a three-year fund supporting U.S.-based reporting projects by Indigenous journalists on the issue. You can find more information here.
The 17th edition of the International Journalism Festival will be held on 19-23 April 2023 in Perugia, Italy. IJF23 is currently accepting proposals for panel discussions, workshops and interviews. The deadline for receipt of proposals is 31 December 2022.
What else we’re reading
This research suggests that news on TikTok is still mostly generated by social media influencers, activists, or ordinary people rather than by journalists. Qualitative studies of younger consumers show that although TikTok is loved for its humour and engaging presentation, many worry about the credibility of the information they see there and the potential for misinformation and disinformation. (Reuters Institute Digital News Report)
Here’s a great list of politics and democracy reads, listed in no particular order. This is a great one if you want to curl up in front of a holiday fire with a good book (Apolitical Foundation)
Tune in to these podcasts about the perils of misinformation. These shows dig into the psychology behind conspiracy theories and demonstrate how dangerous a lie can be once it spreads. (The New York Times)
The Checklist is currently read by over 1500 subscribers. Want to share the Checklist? Invite your friends to sign up here.