Legislation that attempt to criminalize the spread of “fake news” and disinformation may be used to curtail press freedom and free speech, a veteran journalist said on Monday. “When you criminalize these kinds of transgressions, you give a lot of power to the authorities to you use that as a tool to silence free press,” Greste noted. The Egyptian government, he said, loosely interpreted the laws to silence and arrest the members of the press who report on opposition. “If the law can be loosely interpreted, at some point it will be loosely interpreted. There will be a retreat of freedom of speech and a free press,” he said.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 12, 2018 05:53 UTC