Covid-19 Coronavirus - Media Restrictions, Repression and Information Lockdowns

[kiwibird]

Cambodia https://www.khmertimeskh.com/506973...ws-are-terrorists-says-prime-minister-hun-sen

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said those spreading fake news about a COVID-19 outbreak in the Kingdom are considered “terrorists.”

https://english.cambodiadaily.com/ne...vid-19-160771/
Cambodian authorities urged to take action against fabricators of fake news over COVID-19

By
Xinhua Net
-
March 2, 2020
Cambodia’s Ministry of Information on Sunday called on authorities to take urgent action against fabricators of fake news over COVID-19, saying that those ill-intentioned individuals are trying to cause chaos and misunderstanding.

In its press statement, the ministry named seven Facebook account and page holders for posting false statements about the COVID-19 with false claims that foreigners infected and died of the virus in the country.

Iran https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51677530

False or misleading medical advice, fake letters or remarks attributed to senior officials, and a number of conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus have appeared on Iranian social media and messaging apps in recent days.

Officials have so far reported 388 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 34 related deaths in the country, more fatalities than anywhere else outside China.

But sources in the country's health system have told BBC Persian that the death toll currently stands at 210.

According to Cyber Police Chief Vahid Majid, 24 individuals have so far been arrested for spreading rumours about the virus, with 118 receiving a warning.

Hong Kong https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong...ng-man-arrested-suspected-spreading-fake-news

Hong Kong / Law and Crime [h=1]Hong Kong man arrested, suspected of spreading fake news on coronavirus[/h]

• Security guard becomes first person held over misinformation about the deadly outbreak
• Police forced to rely on alternative law to make the arrest, less than a year after the courts ended the use of their go-to offence for smartphone crimes

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1852709/doctors-death-shows-risk-of-fake-news-crackdown

In Thailand, authorities said on Thursday they have arrested four people for posts that allegedly violate the country’s 2017 Computer Crimes Act, which carries sentences of as many as five years in prison. India has arrested five people on suspicion of spreading rumours on the whereabouts of patients, while Indonesia arrested two people on charges of spreading fake news related to coronavirus. They face as much as 10 years in jail, according to Indonesian police spokesman Argo Yuwono...

Police in Vietnam fined a man for posting "unverified information" on Facebook about two Chinese visitors who had been hospitalised. Singapore, meanwhile, invoked its fake news law instructing Facebook, users of the platform and publications to carry correction notices about posts and articles allegedly containing false information about the virus.

Chinese officials punished a doctor in Wuhan for blowing the whistle on the spread of a virus in the early days of the outbreak, in a cover-up that was a failed opportunity to stem the outbreak.

Authorities in Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Thailand have all joined China in cracking down on "misinformation" or "fake news" with arrests and the threat of jail time.

https://news.sol.org.tr/patient-coronavirus-disappeared-turkeys-istanbul-sources-176574

[h=1]Patient with coronavirus disappeared in Turkey's Istanbul: Sources[/h] The records of a patient whose KOVID-19 test was claimed to be positive have disappeared today from the hospital he was being treated, according to anonymous sources speaking to soL news

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