Asia cracks down on virus 'fake news'

Hong Kong: Hundreds of people have been arrested across Asia for posting purported false coronavirus information, according to an AFP investigation, deepening concerns that growing government efforts to combat "fake news" will target the wrong people and silence dissent.

From teenagers to a TV star, people have been wrongly detained under vaguely worded cybercrime laws or broad state-of-emergency powers ushered in since the outbreak began, rights groups say.

"Governments are using the 'fake news' label to dress up their rights-abusing efforts to censor views and statements that are at odds with whatever strategy they have taken to deal with the COVID-19 crisis," said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"It's insane frankly. In many cases it's people being dragged out of their homes to the lock-up, put in pre-trial detention, in crowded spaces where they're more likely to get COVID." At least 266 people have been arrested for posting coronavirus-related information in 10 Asian countries, from Thailand to India and Mongolia, according to an AFP tally based on police reports.

But HRW and other campaigners point to cases where opposition figures or journalists have been targeted -- as well as questioning the fairness of arresting ordinary people who may not even realise they are spreading misinformation.

A middle-aged woman in Sri Lanka spent three days in custody this week after posting a prank message on Facebook saying the president had tested positive for COVID-19, police said.

In Cambodia, a Facebook pundit who posted a quote from Prime Minister Hun Sen was charged with incitement to commit felony and is facing up to two years in jail, according to a court warrant seen by AFP.

Officials say Hun Sen was joking when he told motorbike taxi drivers to sell their vehicles if they cannot make money in the pandemic. Cambodian authorities have also detained four opposition politicians, according to HRW, while a local rights group and police sources said a 14-year-old girl was among more than a dozen people arrested. She was released soon after questioning with no charges.

The surge in arrests in Asia focused on coronoavirus misinformation has come after various countries toughened laws or introduced new ones on so-called fake news.