January 2023 in Asia-Pacific: A free expression round up produced by IFEX's regional editor Mong Palatino, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.
A tax court acquitted journalist Maria Ressa, China has quietly launched a crackdown on anti-lockdown protesters, India ordered YouTube and Twitter to block a BBC documentary, and Fiji’s new government has promised to restore media freedom.
‘Facts win. Truth wins. Justice wins.’
This month, we can begin with welcome news. Filipino-American journalist and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa was acquitted by the Philippine Court of Tax Appeals in four of the seven tax evasion charges filed by the government against her and her news company, Rappler.
It was an important legal victory for Ressa, who was earlier convicted of cyberlibel and could face imprisonment if the Supreme Court will reject her appeal. Ressa celebrated her acquittal on Twitter:
“Today, facts win. Truth wins. Justice wins.”
“I had a good feeling about today because not one shred of evidence supporting these charges was presented in court. But of course, we’ve lived in the upside down so long that I was prepared for the worst.”
The Hold the Line Coalition, of which IFEX is a member, welcomed the court verdict and called for the withdrawal of the remaining charges against Ressa and Rappler. “We hope we are seeing the beginning of an end to the previous administration’s strategy to instrumentalize the courts as a means to undermine independent news organizations and damage journalists’ credibility”.
Released journalists
In early January, IFEX member Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) welcomed the release of journalists Faizullah Faizbakhsh and Khalid Qaderi, who had spent several months in detention on questionable charges. AFJC insist that there’s no basis in jailing these journalists, as it called on Taliban authorities to stop undermining the work of media. Its annual report documented 260 press freedom violations in 2022, with about 119 cases involving the temporary detention of journalists.
To mark the nation’s Independence Day, Myanmar’s military government granted amnesty to 7,000 prisoners on 4 January. Among those released were six journalists and writers who had been arrested for reporting on the February 2021 coup and the opposition against it. The timing was interesting, to say the least. The amnesty was announced just a few weeks after Myanmar courts sentenced at least eight independent journalists to long prison terms on trumped-up charges.
Shawn Crispin, Committee to Protect Journalists senior Southeast Asia representative, described Myanmar’s contradictory actions as a “cruel carousel of jailing, sentencing, and granting early release to journalists” and that it is a “form of psychological warfare aimed at breaking the will of independent journalists and media outlets.”
Ending on a more positive note, another journalist released in January is Mohammad Manan Dar, a freelance photojournalist in Srinagar, Kashmir. Detained since October 2021, he was granted bail after the court questioned the terror charges filed by security forces.
Fiji’s new government promises media reform
IFEX member Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) welcomed the pledge of Fiji’s new coalition government to review laws and regulations that curtail media freedom, including the mandate of the Media Industry Development Authority, which was institutionalized in 2010.
“We are particularly pleased and actually welcome the commitment from the Coalition Government to restore media freedom in Fiji after 16 years. They have pledged this affirmative action during the first 100 days in office,” said PINA president Kora Nou.
PINA said it will work with the Fijian Media Association in reviewing current laws and setting up of a Fiji Media Council to handle complaints and media standards.
India blocks video clips of BBC documentary
On 20 January, India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered Twitter and YouTube to block links to the BBC documentary, “India: The Modi Question,” which features a report probing the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat State
The Committee to Protect Journalists described the order as “an attack on the free press that flagrantly contradicts the country’s stated commitment to democratic ideals.” Meanwhile, the International Press Institute said that “the Modi government is clearly abusing emergency powers under the IT [Internet Technology] Rules to punish or restrict any and all criticism of its policies.” It added that the government recently proposed an amendment to the IT Rules that would allow the state to order the removal of news articles and online content deemed by authorities to be “fake” or “false”.
IPI director of advocacy Amy Brouillette reminded online platforms that their compliance with official directives should not aid the government’s “ongoing campaign to silence critics, journalists, and activists in India.”
The recent blocking of social media content confirmed an earlier report by IFEX member SFLC.in that documented and examined internet shutdowns, website restrictions, and removal of online content between 2015 to 2022 across India. It noted that the existing mechanism of blocking content online, as laid down under current rules, “is opaque and lacks checks and balances.”
China’s crackdown on ‘White Paper’ protesters
Several protesters, journalists, and citizens who supported the “white paper” protests in November and December 2022 were arrested by Chinese security forces and charged with violations such as “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order”.
The spontaneous protests mobilized thousands of students and angry residents who criticized the government’s zero COVID policy because of its harsh impact on the lives and livelihoods of many. Participants carried white paper as a symbolic form of protest since mass assemblies have been outlawed during the pandemic.
Reports about the arrests and the disappearance of some protesters became public only in late December and early January.
Freelance journalist Siqi Li and Renwu Magazine journalist Wang Xue were among those arrested. Some, like Beijing News journalist Yang Liu and former Caixin journalist (currently freelance) Qin Ziyi, have been released on bail.
Yaqiu Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, reminded authorities that “attending a vigil and calling for authorities to respect human rights are not crimes. The crackdown on protesters only revealed Beijing’s deep fear of the power of the country’s young people.”
This video of a young editor mentions the detention of her friends who joined and supported the anti-lockdown protests.
Content takedowns: Thailand’s ‘draconian’ ministerial decree
In Thailand, a new decree empowering officers of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to issue takedown orders for content that violates the Computer Crime Act is now in effect. Service providers could face penalties if they fail to respond to takedown orders within 24 hours.
Civil society groups that belong to the ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship warned that “this will likely result in service providers removing content with haste to avoid penalties, to the detriment of people’s right to freedom of expression and information”.
Global groups such as Access Now, ARTICLE 19, and the International Commission of Jurists added that the new regulation is “draconian” since authorities can issue content removal orders even without judicial authorization.
The new decree was passed ahead of the 2023 election campaign season, raising fears about potential weaponization of the law to silence critics and opposition parties.
Cambodia bans music video on police violence
In Cambodia, police summoned several human rights groups for posting on Facebook a music video commemorating the brutal police dispersal of striking garment workers in 2014. Authorities said the song titled “Blood of Workers”, penned by rapper Kea Sokun, incites violence and threatens national security.
Human rights group the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights or LICADHO was forced to remove the video on social media to avoid prosecution, but insisted that the song’s lyrics and TV footage of the dispersal do not violate the law.
“It is LICADHO’s belief that the music video is not incitement, and is protected speech under the Cambodian Constitution. We are saddened by this restriction on freedom of expression”.
Civil society groups CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, and Asia Democracy Network have issued a joint statement criticizing authorities for blocking the video and ignoring the call for justice and accountability.
E-magazine: Women journalists countering online violence
The latest edition of Digital 50.50, a feminist- e-magazine published by IFEX member Digital Rights Foundation, highlighted the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign in Pakistan. One of the articles was written by Jamaima Afridi, who interviewed several women journalists about their strategies and thoughts on challenging online violence. The journalists shared their personal experiences while asserting that the problem is widespread and deep-rooted, requiring decisive political action and intervention from concerned government agencies and institutions.
