Authoritarian governments in Asia used the pandemic as a pretext to crack down on press freedom, RSF warns

Reporters Without Borders released their 2021 World Press Freedom Index on Tuesday, highlighting how some authoritarian governments in Asia used the coronavirus pandemic as a pretext to impose repressive legislation with provisions that combine propaganda with suppression of dissidents.

“This year’s index shows journalism, which is arguably the best vaccine against the virus of disinformation, is totally blocked or seriously impeded in 73 countries and constrained in 59 others, which together represent 73% of the countries evaluated,” RSF wrote in the report.

This year, China remains at 177 on the index, which means its state of press freedom is only better than Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea. RSF highlighted that since Xi Jinping took power, he has taken online censorship, surveillance, and propaganda to an unprecedented level.

“Thanks to its massive use of new technology and an army of censors and trolls, Beijing manages to monitor and control the flow of information, spy on and censor citizens online, and spread its propaganda on social media,” RSF wrote. “The regime is also expanding its influence abroad with the aim of imposing its narrative on international audiences and promoting its perverse equation of journalism with state propaganda.”

Cedric Alviani, East Asia Bureau head for Reporters Without Borders, said when the coronavirus pandemic first broke out last year, China’s press freedom had a brief moment of liberation since netizens in China were more afraid of contracting the coronavirus rather than the online censorship deployed by the government.

However, after the Chinese government made sure that those who shared information about the pandemic online were punished, the state of press freedom returned to how it was before the pandemic.

The annual index also mentioned the rapid deterioration of the state of press freedom in Hong Kong over the past 12 months, arguing that the national security law has allowed Beijing to directly intervene in Hong Kong’s affairs and posing a serious threat to the local media industry.

“In the Asia Pacific region, the ‘censorship virus’ spread beyond China, in particular to Hong Kong, where the national security law imposed by Beijing seriously threatens journalists,” the report wrote.

RSF specifically mentioned how the Hong Kong government used national security law to arrest and charge Apple Daily’s founder Jimmy Lai. Additionally, the city’s public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong is also being subjected to a full-blown intimidation campaign by the Hong Kong government “with the aim of restricting its editorial autonomy.”

“Nonetheless, there is resistance. It is being led by a handful of independent online media such as Citizen News, Stand News, The Initium, Hong Kong Free Press, and inMedia,” RSF wrote.

Cedric Alviani said the continuous deterioration of Hong Kong’s state of press freedom is not only a bad thing for Hong Kong, but also bad news for the Chinese people since every time freedom is reduced in Hong Kong, that also means the level of freedom that Chinese people can hope for is automatically reduced.

“Even though Hong Kong’s ranking hasn’t been moved yet, its ranking is already quite low,” said Alviani. “It was ranked 18th in 2002, and now it’s ranked by 80th. It’s likely that Hong Kong’s ranking would keep dropping if the situation keeps worsening in the city.”

Media industry facing obstruction in many countries across Asia

Apart from China and Hong Kong, RSF also pointed out at least 10 countries try to use the pandemic as an excuse to limit the free flow of information. Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia have all been highlighted as countries that tried to adopt draconian laws to criminalize criticism against these governments. In some cases, even publishing or broadcasting “false” information would cause someone to be sentenced to several years in jail.

Additionally, Malaysia becomes the country that experienced the biggest fall in ranking in 2021, as the new coalition government tried to get absolute control over information. “It led to the adoption of a so-called ‘anti-fake news’ decree enabling the authorities to impose their own version of the truth,” RSF wrote.

Myanmar is another country where press freedom came under serious attack over the last 12 months. RSF pointed out that the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi suddenly shut down 221 websites, including the websites of several major news outlets, in April 2020 under the name of combating fake news amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Since the coup took place in February 2021, RSF said Myanmar’s press freedom deteriorated further. “By resuming the grim practices of the junta that ruled until February 2011 — including media closures, mass arrests of journalists, and prior censorship — Myanmar has suddenly gone back ten years,” RSF wrote in the report.

Governments use several reasons to crackdown on press freedom

In addition to damaging press freedom in the name of combating fake news, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal have been highlighted as countries that tried to impose censorship by strictly applying existing legislation that has already been viewed as draconian.

In India, journalists who are willing to criticize the government have been labeled as “anti-state” or “anti-national” by supporters of the ruling party, turning them into targets for public condemnation.

“This exposes them to public condemnation in the form of extremely violent social media hate campaigns that include calls for them to be killed, especially if they are women,” wrote RSF. “When out reporting in the field, they are physically attacked by BJP activists, often with the complicity of the police. And finally, they are also subjected to criminal prosecutions.”

Despite the bleak prospect for press freedom in Asia, Bhutan, Mongolia, and Timor-Leste have been highlighted as countries that resisted the threats of the government’s desire to control information amid the global pandemic. RSF said media in these countries have been able to assert their independence vis-à-vis the executive, legislature, and judiciary.

Lastly, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan are still deemed the press freedom models in the region, as these countries continue to ensure journalists can do their job and inform the public “without any attempt by the authorities to impose their own narrative.”

“Their good behavior has shown that censorship is not inevitable in times of crisis and that journalism can be the best antidote to disinformation,” RSF wrote.

This piece was first published in Mandarin on DW’s Chinese website.