As more countries enact cybercrime legislation, analysts warn that efforts to combat legitimate concerns could also allow for easier targeting of critics.
Analysts have warned that amendments in Pakistan and Myanmar in recent months could add to already repressive environments.
Some point to Nigeria as a test case. Since passing its cybercrime law in 2015, watchdogs have documented 29 cases of journalists being charged, including four who were charged in a Lagos court in September.
“What we are seeing is a steady criminalization of journalists around the world, and it’s a huge threat to press freedom,” said Jonathan Rozen, a senior researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.
In Pakistan, the government in January amended the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016 (PECA). Authorities said the changes would curb cybercrime, online harassment and the spread of hateful content that could instigate violence.
Pakistan’s federal information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the law was needed “to regulate social media.”
“Countries across the world have some codes or standards under which social media operate, but there was none in our country,” he told reporters last month.
The amendment led to protests by journalists and civil society, who said the changes would make it easy for authorities to prosecute people whose opinions are not in line with those of the government.
Analysts pointed to broad terms, including definitions of “unlawful” content and “person,” with the latter now including state institutions and corporations.
Another amendment proposed the creation of a Digital Rights Protection Authority that can remove content from social media platforms.
Critics and media rights groups worry this could expose journalists and social media users to increased restrictions and legal action, restrict dissent and open doors for the powerful military establishment to target and harass civilians.
Before the reforms, watchdogs recorded more than 200 cases of journalists being investigated since PECA was passed.
Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the changes in Pakistan’s cybercrime law would make an “already repressive online atmosphere even worse and restrictive.”
Pakistan’s military has imposed a “much tougher crackdown” in the past year, said Kurlantzick.
“They have gone well out of their way to target individuals, civil rights activists, journalists, and use anti-freedom laws to target those people, and often put them in jail,” he said.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.
Similar concerns are shared in Myanmar, where the junta last July passed an expansive cybercrime law. The law targeted virtual private networks, or VPNs, that allow internet users to circumvent blocked websites and censorship.
The junta said the new law was needed to protect against cyberattacks and cybercrimes that could threaten the country's stability.
Since seizing power in a coup in February 2021, Myanmar’s military has revoked broadcast licenses, blocked access to websites and jailed journalists. The country is the third worst jailer of journalists, with 35 detained, according to the latest CPJ data.
An expert with the Myanmar Internet Project, a digital rights group, told VOA at the time that the law was more focused on suppressing rights than protecting the public.
"All the provisions of the law are designed to suppress rather than protect the public," the expert, who asked to be identified only as U Han, said. "We believe that the junta will use this bill as a weapon prepared for this purpose."
Kurlantzick, however, believes the military would struggle to restrict the online space.
"Myanmar’s military has no power to restrict online dissent anymore, as 70% of the country is in control of the opposition groups,” he said. “The government, which can’t provide power, water or other services even in the biggest cities, doesn’t have the ability to crack down on the internet now.”
In Nigeria, the 2015 Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act has been used to file cases against journalists who investigate corruption. But the government has made some reforms based on civil society and press freedom group recommendations.
Two sections of the cybercrime law had been of particular concern because of the “very broad and vague wording” that allowed the arrest of journalists for sending what were deemed “annoying” or “defamatory” messages, said CPJ’s Rozen.
Changes made in 2024 narrowed the language.
“It constrained the opportunity for authorities to arrest journalists only if the messages were knowingly false, or if it was causing a breakdown of law or causing a threat to life,” said Rozen, who added that other areas remain “overly broad and could be abused.”
One section he cited allows for law enforcement to access information from service providers without a court order.
Nigeria’s police have used this to access data of journalists, said Rozen, noting that four journalists are currently facing prosecution under the cybercrime act.
Rozen agrees that “misinformation and disinformation are challenges for society, but what is being observed,” he said, “is a criminalization of journalists on accusations that they are sharing false information, and in many cases, this is used as a shorthand to smother or crush" dissenting voices.
With more reporting and publishing taking place online, the tools some governments use to suppress journalists are adapting to the modernization of the industry, Rozen said.
