A parody video by Yang Kaili, a 21-year-old social media celebrity from China, has led to her detention. The online star, followed on live-streaming platform Huya by tens of millions of users, sang a part of the national anthem while dancing. As a result, she was detained on October 7 by Shanghai’s Jingan district’s police for “disrespecting” the national anthem. She…
Thirteen people were arrested in Vietnam over blogging and publishing posts on Facebook in Vietnam, Amnesty International reports. The arrests follow the approval of a new cybersecurity law which will take full effect in January 2019. According to Amnesty International, sentences of up to 15 years were handed to five protesters under Article 79 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, over “activities…
Gilgit-Baltistan Police has reportedly blocked 141 social media accounts over anti-religious and anti-state publications. Five people are facing legal charges for violating the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 over “spreading religious hatred and posting anti-state content online”. DOWN reports that Special Branch Additional Inspector General (AIG) Hanifullah admitted that social media accounts are being monitored for anti-state content and…
Thayyib Shaheem, a news editor and a political activist, was arrested on March 16 in the Maldives for criticizing a development project in the country on Twitter. Shaheem, who has about 22K followers on Twitter, was accused of “spreading panic and disinformation on social media” and now may face charges punishable by up to a year and 3 months in prison. Shaheem is a vocal…
Kamal C. Chavara, a Malayalam writer and activist, was arrested on Decemberr 17 by Nadakavu police over a disrespectful post made on Facebook regarding the national anthem. The blogger is facing Sedition charges under Section 124(A) of the Indian Penal Code. The blogger, known by the alias Kamalsy Prana, was taken into custody from Kozhikode following a complaint made at Karunagalapalli Police station by Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata…
Zunar, the Malaysian award winning political cartoonist and activist, was arrested today, 26 November, under the Sedition Act for cartoons that allegedly insulted Prime Minister Najib Razak. The arrest took place a day after being attacked by dozens of pro-government thugs. Due to the attack, Zunar was forced to call off his exhibition in Penang, northern to Kuala Lumpur. Zunar was verbally abused, physically attacked…
Sanal Edamaruku, a 61-year-old Indian man, was forced to flee India after being accused of blasphemy over exposing claimed “miracle” at a local church in Mumbai for being a fraud. Edamaruku has been living in Finland in the past 4 years to evade his arrest. Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, describes himself as a ‘miracle-buster’ who aims to demystify false superstitious beliefs.…
