The draft law, which has just been leaked, is clearly designed to prevent pro-democracy activists from continuing to organise the demonstrations that have been taking place every day in cities across Myanmar in response to the military coup on February 1.

The State Administration Council – as the new military junta euphemistically calls itself – sent a copy of the proposed law to internet access and online service providers on  February 9.

And the junta is expected to make it public on February 15.

The draft law, which RSF has seen, would require online platforms and service providers operating in Myanmar to keep all user data in a place designated by the government for three years.

‘Causing hate, destabilisation’
Article 29 would give the government the right to order an account’s “interception, removal, destruction or cessation” in the event of any content “causing hate or disrupting unity, stabilisation and peace,” any “disinformation,” or any comment going “against any existing law.”

This extremely vague wording would give the government considerable interpretative leeway and would in practice allow it to ban any content it disliked and to prosecute its author.

Article 30, on the other hand, is very specific about the data that online service providers must hand over to the government when requested: the user’s name, IP address, phone number, ID card number and physical address.

Any violation of the law would be punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of 10 million kyats (6200 euros). Those convicted on more than one count would, of course, serve the corresponding jail terms consecutively.

RSF submission
“The provisions of this cyber-security law pose a clear threat to the right of Myanmar’s citizens to reliable information and to the confidentiality of journalists’ and bloggers’ data,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF Asia-Pacific desk.

“We urge digital actors operating in Myanmar, starting with Facebook, to refuse to comply with this shocking attempt to bring them to heel. This junta has absolutely no democratic legitimacy and it would be highly damaging for platforms to submit too its tyrannical impositions.”

Facebook has nearly 25 million users in Myanmar – 45 percent of the population. Three days after the February 1 coup, the junta suddenly blocked access to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

But many of the country’s citizens have been using VPNs (virtual private networks) to circumvent the censorship.

The proposed law’s leak has coincided with social media reports of the arrival of many Chinese technicians tasked with setting up an internet barrier and cybersurveillance system of the kind operating in China, which is an expert in this domain.

Earlier this week, RSF reported the comments of several journalists who have been trying to cover the protests against the military coup, and who said that press freedom has been set back 10 years in the space of 10 days, back to where it was before the start of the democratisation process.

Myanmar is ranked 139th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

By Mata’afa Keni Lesa, editor of the Samoa Observer

It’s all happening in Samoa today.

For such a small country, there really is no dull moment.

With the latest political maneuvering within the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), and the developments in the halls of law and justice during the past couple of days, things are certainly heating up.

READ MORE: Samoan police charge anti-government blogger

The worry is that there is no “atomic bomb” nearby – otherwise all these controversial developments could collectively trigger and cause something – we might regret later on. There is certainly a feeling of uneasiness in the air; that cannot be denied.

We say this because if as Christians we claim that there are no accidents in life, then we must pause and do some soul searching, to discover the true meaning to all these developments. What are they trying to tell us? What are the lessons we can take from it? And why are they happening?

There must be a method to thy madness. Folks, these things don’t just happen out of nowhere. There have been events building up to what we are seeing today, so that we get the feeling something has got to give, somewhere. And it’s not a question of whether it will happen; it’s rather of question of when and how it’s going to unfold.

As powerful as people say he is, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr Sa’ilele Malielegaoi has given a rare glimpse into his fears this week, perhaps explaining a lot of the things he’s been doing and saying lately.

What fear?
What is that fear? Well he’s afraid of the possibility that the political machine called the H.R.P.P. could fall apart.

How do we know? Well he said it himself.

In justifying the party’s decision to forcefully remove long serving member, La’auilalemalietoa Leuatea Polata’iva, Prime Minister Tuilaepa indicated he wants to use the decision against La’auli as a warning to other potential rebellion party members.

“If we don’t do this now, this will be the beginning of the destruction of this party because others will say; well nothing has been done to him so I can try too,” Tuilaepa admitted this week.

The reality is that it’s hard to imagine such a well-oiled machine like the HRPP destructing. It’s even harder to see that happening with a lone member expressing different views, like La’auli has done.

But they say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. La’auli might be alone for now, but who is to say that this is not the beginning of the end?

Which is perhaps why Prime Minister Tuilaepa is hell bent on ensuring party members get the message that no one should dare test his authority. He has thrown everything including the book to make his case here.

Written agreement
“We have an agreement, a written agreement,” he said. “Before you become a member, we have an agreement where you pledge your allegiance to the party. That agreement is your commitment that you will not do anything to harm the party. So once you do something to harm the party, you have made a decision on yourself.”

He continued: “When matters pertaining to the Constitution are raised where amendments are needed, no one is allowed to [vote against the party’s position]. This is where this agreement comes into play.”

“This (HRPP) law applies to when the Constitution is the subject of discussions and amendments. It is why if you decide to vote against, that is you officially informing the party you want to leave and you don’t want to be involved anymore. Which is exactly what was done.”

Interesting, very interesting indeed. Where this episode will head to next we can only wait and see.

The trouble for the government – and Prime Minister Tuilaepa – is that it’s not just being attacked from within, there is a growing number of people – especially Samoans residing overseas – who have become so bold they are starting to stand up and speak their minds.

One of them went the extra mile and threw a pig’s head and dog food at the Prime Minister when he was speaking during a Samoa Airways launch in Brisbane recently. In Samoa this week, Talalelei Pauga was offered an opportunity to explain his actions and what he said was quite telling.

“My approach was on the political level and the reason why I used the pig’s head was because he called the people of my country stinking pigs,” he said. “He also called our people dogs and all that. If you don’t have respect for my people why should I have respect for him?”

‘No fear’
Pauga went on to say that he has “no fear, and I will die for my people.” Well that’s a bit extreme, isn’t it? But it perhaps shows the depth of feeling that exists when it comes to some of the latest political developments in Samoa today.

Speaking of extremes, another one unfolded on Friday when the police charged the man known as “King Faipopo” for allegedly making defamatory statements online against Prime Minister Tuilaepa.

Malele Paulo (his real name) had come to Samoa for his mother’s funeral when he was picked up by the police and charged on Friday night. He spent the night in police custody before he was finally let go yesterday, after surrendering his passport.

Paulo becomes the first person to be charged under the Criminal Libel Act, re-introduced by Prime Minister Tuilaepa himself, last year. This is going to be very, very, very interesting.

So stay tuned.

This editorial was published in the Sunday Samoan, the weekend edition of Samoa’s only daily newspaper, Samoa Observer. It is republished with permission.

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Samoan anti-government blogger Malele Paulo has been arrested, reports RNZ Pacific.

Malele, who uses the pseudonym “King Faipopo”, is being held in police custody.

RNZ reported Malele had been charged with making threatening social media statements towards the Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, under a new criminal libel law.

Malele, who is based in Australia, was arrested in Apia after he returned to Samoa for his mother’s funeral.

In August, Tuilaepa said he was filing a lawsuit against Malele over accusations he had posted on his blog.

At the time, Malele as “King Faipopo” had challenged the prime minister to “come and get me”, according to the Samoa Observer.

Responding to a statement issued then by the Office of the Prime Minister for the authorities to begin the process to bring him back to Samoa, Malele said he was not afraid of the actions taken by the prime minister.

‘I ain’t scared’
“I ain’t scared of anyone on this earth, Tuilaepa Sailele. Don’t try and scare me because I am not afraid of you and I have said it so many times. I am only scared of God.

“I have apologised to the country but you did not reply to my apology. I apologise to the country, not you, and you did not respond.

“You said the police will come and arrest King Faipopo. So come and get me I am waiting,” he said in the video sent to the Samoa Observer.

Malele said he at the time he was also ready to face the prime minister in court.

In December 2017, Samoa Observer editor Mata’afa Keni Lesa criticised the country’s Parliament for unanimously enacting the new criminal libel law after it had been repealed four years earlier, according to RNZ Pacific.

Mata’afa said the law threatened media freedom in Samoa. While it would be ineffective against “faceless” bloggers it would “cripple” the maintream media, he said.

By Sylvester Gawi in Singapore

I hope you are reading this with ease and a positive mindset to help change the course of this beautiful country of ours – Papua New Guinea. My first time experience here has made me  raise questions about how our economy has been mismanaged over the last 40years.

I’ve come to know this place from reading books, magazines, watching videos, documentaries and even looking it up on the internet.

From the countless travel magazines in secondhand shops in Lae in the 1990s to the LCD screens of the most sophisticated smartphones accessed by almost all school age kids in PNG today, Singapore has literally changed in front of our eyes.

I read with much interest about how Singapore has transformed itself from a small island nation to become one of the most developed countries in the world.

Singapore’s rise to power
Singapore has a rich history of civilisation. It was once colonised by the British empire. During the Second World War it was invaded by the Japanese, and later taken over again by the British after the war when Japan surrendered to the Allies.

The failure of Britain to defend Singapore during the war forced the people to cry for merdeka, or self governance. It 1963, Singapore became part of Malaysia, ending  144 years of British rule on the island.

Since gaining independence from Malaysia on August 9, 1965, Singapore has since progressed on to be the host of one of the biggest and busiest air and sea ports in the world.

Lessons for PNG
Papua New Guinea has some of the world’s largest natural resource deposits in gold, copper, timber and now the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or the PNG LNG Project which is worth US$19 billion.

Papua New Guinea’s GDP per capita in 2017 was US$2401. The highest so far was in 2015 when our GDP per capita was US$2402.

Singapore’s GDP per capita continues to grow annually and it is now US$55,235.

Singapore has been able to made its way to becoming a developed country in just under 53 years of Independence. Its government subsidises housing, medical bills, education, public transport and so on, and increases economic opportunities for middle to low income earners.

It is an island country without any gold, copper, nickel mines, LNG project, organic coffee, timber or any other natural resources. It is a very strategic port of transition where goods and raw materials are brought here first then transported elsewhere across the world.

We also have the Lae port in PNG, which is one of the the most most strategic ports in the Southern Hemisphere. It is where cargoes from across the world transit into the Australia and even the Pacific.

The Lae port and the production line of businesses operating in Lae generates well over K111 million for the national government coffers annually as internal revenue. The Lae port serves as the only seaport that controls import of raw materials and exports of organic coffee, cocoa and other organic products for international markets.

Better roads, schools
We could have better roads being built, good schools, hospitals and life improving facilities for every tax payer in the city. Our SME sector should have fully flourished by now if we have the government putting its paper policy to work.

Squatter settlements and law and order won’t be major impediments for growth and development. People’s mindset would have changed and people’s movement in search for better service delivery would have been narrowed down.

Everyone here in Singapore respects each other despite their color, ethnicity and religion. There is no littering, loitering or even people sleeping on the streets. You will get caned by the police if you don’t dispose your rubbish in the right place.

The Singaporean government has made it its responsibility to ensure every citizen learns to appreciate and look after the environment. There are separate rubbish bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable. No smoking in public or even spitting as you will be fined and dealt with accordingly.

All this boils down is a need to for a change in attitude in Papua New Guinea. If we change our attitude and start respecting each other and the environment we live in, we will create a good future for our children.

Since we don’t change ourselves, we have kept on voting self-centered individuals to represent our interest in Parliament for the last 40 years.

A politician once told me, he has plans and dreams to reclaim the beauty of the city he grew up in the early 70s. But he added that that dream would only be achievable if the people changed their mindset. Also one member of Parliament won’t make the change happen, it needs the majority to stand up for the people’s needs.

Last generation
“represent the last generation of Papua New Guinean kids who have used a kerosene lamp, a payphone, drank from a Coke bottle and listened to music on cassette players while growing up. We have anticipated so much to change for the better, but we are seeing it the other way around.

Life is getting tougher.

Our politicians should stop coming to Singapore for medical treatment alone, they should start focusing on making PNG become the next Singapore.

A wise man once said, if we continue to tell lies, it will surely become the truth. If the government can fool us for 40 years, they might continue to sell PNG’s resources for their own interest.

Sylvester Gawi is a Papua New Guinean journalist who blogs at Graun Blong Mi – My Land.