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Laos social media task force: Will it target ‘fake news’ or censor online criticism? · Global Voices

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2021-06-13 05:30:07

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Civil society groups in Southeast Asia are pushing back against the Laos government’s recent directives to monitor social media platforms and enforce internet registration.

On May 20, the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism issued a vaguely worded order requiring all provincial governments to keep records about information published on social media platforms, websites, online news sources and Facebook pages.  The following day, the Ministry of Public Security announced that it has created a special task force to monitor “illegal online media” and COVID-19 related “fake news” content.

Our job is to give advice and to lay out the rules and punishments for those who misuse social media. We’ll give a warning to first-time offenders, and then fine people for a second offence. For a third offence, we will put them in jail.

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