Global South tightens social media grip amid protests
Significance Civil society actors routinely use social media to spread content that fuels anti-government sentiment, to organise demonstrations and to document and amplify protest actions. Across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and South-east Asia, repressive governments are tightening controls over these platforms, most recently under the guise of tackling COVID-19-related disinformation. Impacts Most Middle Eastern states will intensify surveillance of online discourse. African governments will routinely ban and throttle social media and shut down the internet, primarily by pressuring telecoms firms. South-east Asian governments will control online activism through new laws on ‘fake news’ and lean on telecoms firms to comply. South Asian governments favour a combination of new laws on online content and business regulations to control social media activity.