Geneva
The UN rights chief warned on Wednesday that India, Bangladesh and other Asian countries were using the coronavirus crisis as an excuse to clamp down on free expression and tighten censorship.
In a statement, Michelle Bachelet expressed alarm over how censorship had been tightened in several countries, along with arbitrary arrests and detention of people who criticise their government’s response, or even who simply share information or views on the pandemic. “Arrests for expressing discontent or allegedly spreading false information through the press and social media, have been reported in Bangladesh, Cambodia, , India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam,” the statement said. —AFP
