In a video released Wednesday, Serena Williams appears to be getting ready for a tennis match as she lists the signs typically associated with domestic violence, including walking with a limp, showing bruises, and speaking with a shaken voice. 

Then she poses the question, “What about the abuse you can’t see?” 

Williams is referring to financial abuse, an “invisible” form of domestic violence that can include restrictions on spending, limited access to bank accounts and job opportunities, and ruined credit. 

SEE ALSO: Kerry Washington designs purse for victims of domestic abuse

The public service announcement marks Williams’ latest contribution to the Allstate Foundation Purple Purse campaign, for which she serves as an ambassador. The campaign is designed to bring awareness to the pervasiveness of financial abuse. Research suggests most victims of domestic violence have experienced such controlling behavior; it is one of the main reasons victims cannot leave their relationships. 

“I’m proud to speak up for women who can’t use their voices”

“I’m proud to speak up for women who can’t use their voices, and let them know we’re working to end the cycle of abuse,” Williams said in a statement. “I hope that after viewing the video, people will be more aware of the hidden signs of financial abuse and they’ll understand the need to help those who’ve been burdened by it.” 

Williams has also designed a limited-edition suede and leather purple backpack, which will be given away weekly to participants who donate $10 or more to the . 

Image: Allstate Foundation Purple Purse Challenge

Money raised through the sweepstakes and all fundraising efforts during the challenge will go to nonprofits that provide services like financial aid and counseling, emergency shelter, and transportation to domestic violence survivors and their families. Participating nonprofits will also receive backpacks to use for fundraising. The annual Purple Purse Challenge coincides with National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

If you or someone you know has experienced domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or TTY 1-800-787-3224.

New information about a corrupt police unit of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) that was able to rob and steal with impunity for at least a decade has been revealed by an Al Jazeera English investigation.

In The Gang Within: A Baltimore Police Scandal, Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines spoke to the city’s former police commissioner and other high-ranking police officials, who explain that an obsession with arrests and statistics blinded the department to the illegal dealings of members of the now-defunct Gun Trace Task Force unit.

“This police department had a Viking-like mentality. Police officers were told to go out and get arrests, get guns, get drugs … and their worth was judged by the amount of those things that they brought back to the table,” Kevin Davis, former BPD Commissioner, told Fault Lines.

Detective Jemell Rayam and Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, along with four other detectives, pleaded guilty last year to racketeering conspiracy and other charges after the FBI arrested nearly every member of the Gun Trace Task Force unit in March 2017. Two other officers were convicted of several federal charges.

“The Feds [finally caught them] and that’s scary because if an outside agency didn’t stop it, they’d still be out there,” Josh Insley, a Baltimore civil rights attorney who received a confidential Internal Affairs file from a whistle-blower, told Al Jazeera.

‘A free pass’

For years, the plain-clothes officers from the unit were able to operate with impunity in part because of the way police complaints are investigated in Baltimore, and in cities around the US.

In Maryland and 22 other US states an officer’s disciplinary record is kept confidential. Misconduct investigations are secret and are carried out by the Internal Affairs Division.

Former head of the BPD’s Internal Affairs Division, Rodney Hill, told Fault Lines that “I’d heard his [Jenkins] name many times and I’d heard that these guys are doing some really shady things.”

According to Hill, he recommended that Jenkins got demoted but one of the department’s highest-ranking officials overruled him, so Jenkins stayed on the streets.

When asked whether he believed Jenkins and other officers involved had been given a “free pass”, Hill confirmed, “Yes, I would say that.”

Fault Lines examined leaked confidential disciplinary files that reveal Rayam was investigated nearly a decade ago for robbery, but the department kept him on the street.

According to the files, BPD’s Internal Affairs investigated Rayam for the roadside robbery of Baltimore resident Gary Brown in 2009. Although the detective was caught in a series of lies, Rayam was eventually cleared of wrongdoing by a panel of his own officers. He returned to the streets for another nine years before the FBI caught up with him.

“It’s like getting caught tiptoeing out of the window with the mask and the bag with the dollar sign on it out of the crime scene, and that’s still not enough. Then, what is? You know what, getting indicted by the feds. That is. That’s the only stopgap, is to be so notorious that the actual US Attorney’s Office has to come in and indict you off the street,” Insley said.

‘A culture of corruption that has been allowed to exist’

The scandal threatens to undermine reform efforts and a federal investigation into the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who died while in police custody in 2015, setting off mass protests and exposing the deep divisions between Baltimore’s police department and the community.

“Officers are actually public servants, they have the public trust, and they are there to protect and serve the public,” said Jill Carter, a Maryland state senator who is also a leader in legislative efforts to create more transparency and oversight of Baltimore’s Internal Affairs division.

“And so, when they violate the public or are accused of violating the public, it’s something the public should know,” she told Al Jazeera.

After the 2015 protests, the Department of Justice began a civil rights investigation into policing in Baltimore. They found that police routinely violated people’s rights, adding that BPD’s Internal Affairs had enabled those abuses.

Senator Carter added that the impunity reaches far beyond the Baltimore police. 

“This is not something that just exists here in Baltimore, but this whole giving additional or extra deference to law enforcement, treating law enforcement as if they are above the law, above the people – it’s a culture, it’s a mentality,” Carter told Al Jazeera.

“This is not just a matter of a few bad apples. This is a culture of corruption that has been allowed to exist.”

The FBI’s supplemental background check into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will be wrapped up soon enough to allow a Senate vote this week, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.

Multiple media reports, citing unnamed sources, said the investigation could be completed Wednesday.

“We’ll have an FBI report this week, and we’ll have a vote this week,” McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.

McConnell noted that only senators would be able to see the report. He did not say how long he’d wait to schedule a vote after the report was released.

President Donald Trump said he expects there to be a vote by week’s end.

“And I think the process – I must say, I think – hopefully, as Mitch said, they’ll have a vote by the end of the week, and it will be a positive vote. But it will be dependent on what comes back from the FBI,” Trump said Tuesday. “The FBI – the FBI is working. They’re working very hard. And let’s see what happens.”

The Justice Department referred questions about the probe back to the White House.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for a slowdown in the process, suggesting senators should have a day to study the FBI report before deciding Kavanaugh’s fate.

“A Supreme Court nominee must, whatever their politics, be a shining example of someone who tells the truth,” Schumer tweeted. “Every Senator now must assess these serious allegations, and consider whether Judge Kavanaugh has the temperament, independence, and credibility to serve.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, whose votes are considered key to the nomination, both said they were satisfied with the pace of the process.

The primary focus of the investigation has been the sexual assault claim of Christine Blasey Ford, who says she was attacked by Kavanaugh while both were in high school 36 years ago. Ford, however, acknowledged difficulty in remembering details of the episode, including where and when it happened.

More: Who has FBI contacted in its investigation of Brett Kavanaugh?

More: ‘It’s a damn sad situation’: Trump mocks Kavanaugh accuser

More: Sens. Jeff Flake, Chris Coons channel mentors, John McCain, Joe Biden

The FBI was given a week to conduct its probe. NBC News, citing two sources the media outlet said were familiar with the investigation, said the FBI had hoped to complete its work as soon as Tuesday night. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times also reported that the FBI was on pace to complete its effort ahead of schedule.

As of Tuesday evening, the FBI still had not contacted Ford. Agents also had not contacted Julie Swetnick, who alleges in a sworn statement that Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, tried to get teenage girls drunk so they could be “gang raped” by multiple boys.

Lawyers for Deborah Ramirez, who claims that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dorm party when they were freshmen at Yale University, confirmed that the FBI had reached out to Ramirez and that she was cooperating with the investigation.

Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all the allegations.

Contributing: David Jackson, Eliza Collins, Erin Kelly

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WASHINGTON – Millions of cell phones will beep, chirp and vibrate at exactly 2:18 p.m. Wednesday.

Don’t panic.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is conducting a nationwide test of its Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), similar to the ones conducted on radio and television. In fact, radio and TV will start broadcasting similar messages as part of its Emergency Alert System (EAS) at precisely 2:20 p.m.

“The purpose of the test is to ensure that EAS and WEA are both effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level,” FEMA said in a release. Testing of public alert and warning systems helps to assess the operational readiness of alerting infrastructure and to identify any needed technological and administrative improvements.

Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes. Cell phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message.

The cell phone message will have a header that reads “Presidential Alert” and the following text: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” 

It should appear only once.

This will be the first national test of the cell phone alerts. The system is used to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children and other critical situations while also providing the president the capability to address the nation during a national emergency.

The exercise is being held in cooperation with the Federal Communications Commission and the National Weather Service, and with the participation of the communications industry.

More: What wireless providers like Verizon, AT&T are doing to prepare for Hurricane Florence

More: 3 smart ways to boost cell signals inside your home

 

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The UK Prime Minister just danced to ABBA at the Conservative Party Conference. Yes, you read that correctly. 

As she walked on stage Theresa May did a little jig to – wait for it – “Dancing Queen.”

May has been mocked by people on the internet since she flashed her robotic dancing skills during a state visit to Kenya. 

But she wasn’t going to let that stop her from having the time of her life as she went on stage to deliver her speech. 

See that girl. Watch that scene.

Dig in the dancing PM.

“I have come to continue exactly where I stopped”, declared Ugandan MP Robert Kyagulanyi, also known by his stage name Bobi Wine, upon his arrival to Kampala on September 20. He had just come back from a trip to the United States where he sought treatment for injuries he says were caused by his torture at the hands of Ugandan security forces.

“We must get our freedom or we shall die trying to get our freedom,” he told reporters. Large crowds of supporters came to his house to welcome him, defying a police order.

Despite a treason charge hanging over his head, Bobi Wine seems intent on putting up a challenge to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Over the past few months, his appeal has grown and his profile raised in Uganda and beyond. He has helped unseat three incumbent ruling party MPs, including in the city of Arua, where he was arrested in mid-August. After news broke of his detention and torture, the #FreeBobiWine campaign spread rapidly across East Africa, Europe and North America.

This put pressure on the Ugandan government to release him and allow him to travel to the US. There, he met with and lobbied US officials to withdraw support from President Museveni over the human rights violations his administration has committed. His cause was also brought up in legislatures in the United Kingdom and the European Union.

He now has many high-profile friends and sympathisers around the world who are watching every move of the Ugandan government, ready to blow the bullhorn should something happened to him again.

Ugandans have seen the rise and fall of challengers to President Museveni over the past three decades but many seem to sense that something is different this time.

It seems the 36-year-old musician-turned-MP has managed to get under Museveni’s skin, rattling and unsettling him in a way that no politician ever has.

Quite out of character, the Ugandan president has even flip-flopped on his social media stance. While just a few months ago, he was trying to tax the youth for using social media platforms to spread “gossip”, he took to Twitter to deny the obvious and to push the narrative that the rising political star is just another irritant, a troublemaker.

Museveni has also given two lengthy speeches to defend his legacy, promising to fix the country’s intractable problems but disillusioned Ugandans, mostly young Bobi Wine “diehards”, see him as an old man out of touch with reality, obsessed with past glories and clueless about present-day challenges. They even nicknamed Bosco, a technologically challenged character in a popular ad released by a local mobile operator.

However, it would be foolhardy to start writing Museveni’s political obituary now. Despite his many weaknesses, he has managed to fortify himself in power in a way that gives him absolute control and unquestionable loyalty, which Bobi Wine will most likely fail to break.

One of the main challenges for any politician who eyes President Museveni’s seat is the role the military plays in Ugandan politics. Over the past three decades, the Ugandan president has managed to militarise the state by giving government and legislative positions to top military officers. In 2005 he introduced the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces Act of 2005 giving vast powers to the army. 

One of the stipulations of the act provide for 10 acting army officers being elected to parliament by an army council, after being nominated first by Museveni himself. Apart from the obvious problems with the army having a say in legislative affairs, its presence has also invited direct meddling in deliberations, including on occasion the storming of the parliament by security forces.

The act has also enabled the army to try civilians in military courts. Bobi Wine himself appeared before a military court in  August after being charged with illegal possession of weapons. 

The military also has a significant presence within the cabinet, with Gen Kahinda Otafire in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Gen Elly Tumwine heading the security ministry. 

The people closest to the president are also army men. Museveni’s brother, a retired general, controls “Operation Wealth Creation”, a socio-economic initiative with an enormous government budget, while his son is a top-ranking general who was initially put in charge of the elite Presidential Guard Unit and then appointed Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations. There have been some speculations that by promoting him within the army ranks, Museveni is grooming his son to succeed him. 

This lack of separation between the military – the men with guns – and the civilian government in Uganda is what is likely to upset Bobi Wine’s attempt to challenge Museveni’s power or that of any other civilian politician.

Even if he manages to rally the majority of the civilian population behind his cause and gets the backing of major international actors, he will still find it difficult to bring down a president backed by the military.

And even if he succeeds, the generals will remain and they will likely do anything to keep the political and economic power they currently enjoy. They are likely to sabotage any effort to introduce major economic and political reforms that could take away their privileges.

Museveni himself has been threatened by various powerful officers within the army. It is for this reason that he has conducted purges within its ranks, despite the risk of mutiny. So far, he has managed to silence his challengers, some as powerful as David Sejusa, a Bush War veteran (just like Museveni) and former coordinator of intelligence services.

In 2013, Sejusa called for an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate high-ranking military officials opposing Museveni’s son. He was then accused of plotting a coup and forced to go into exile in the UK where he remained for a year before returning home; after a short imprisonment, the formerly outspoken general is now free but maintaining a low profile.

While Museveni has so far been able to handle the army, his successor might not be able to.

The events of 2011-2013 in Egypt are a good illustration of what happens when a civilian political force tries to challenge the power of a politicised military. In 2011, the Egyptian army stepped back and let the popular revolt topple President Hosni Mubarak, whose sons were perceived as a threat by the military’s top brass.

Then the army also let Mohamed Morsi take the presidency and form a government; it even let him rule for about a year. But Egypt’s military leadership blocked all efforts of his political group, the Muslim Brotherhood, to dismantle its power and eventually brought him down with a coup.

While the parallel between the Egyptian and the Ugandan armies is not a full one – the former being much more powerful than the latter – it is not a stretch to say that discontent military officers could serve as spoilers to whoever comes to power after Museveni, be it Bobi Wine or someone else.

At the same time, expectations for any post-Museveni leadership will be astronomically high (the way they were in Egypt) and his successor will risk losing whatever political capital he or she has by trying to fix decades of purposeful weakening of civilian institutions.

In this sense, while Bobi Wine is indeed a breath of fresh air in Ugandan politics, we have to be realistic about how far his political project can go.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

President Donald Trump’s White House has responded to a bombshell New York Times report that reviewed over 100,000 documents to conclude that Trump’s father, Fred, transferred to him hundreds of millions of dollars and skirted tax payments.

But the White House’s response weirdly omits to specifically counter the total destruction of Trump’s origin story.

On the campaign trail in 2015, Trump portrayed himself as a self-made billionaire with a knack for the real estate market.

“It has not been easy for me. I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars. I came into Manhattan, and I had to pay him back, and I had to pay him back with interest. But I came into Manhattan and I started buying properties, and I did great,” said Trump.

The New York Times, however, reported on a “trove of confidential tax returns and financial records” showing that Trump received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from when he was a child through the present day.

From the Times:

“The president’s parents, Fred and Mary Trump, transferred well over $1 billion in wealth to their children, which could have produced a tax bill of at least $550 million under the 55 percent tax rate then imposed on gifts and inheritances.

“The Trumps paid a total of $52.2 million, or about 5 percent, tax records show.”

But the White House, instead of outright denying the hundreds of millions Trump got from his father, seemed to confirm the transactions that enriched Trump.

Though the White House called the article a “misleading attack against the Trump family by the failing New York Times,” it took the existence of the transactions reported by the paper for granted. “Many decades ago the IRS reviewed and signed off on these transactions,” the White House statement reads.

While it remains unclear which transactions described in the 14,000-word article the White House is talking about here, the statement only addresses the family’s financial history in this one brief sentence.

Robert Trump, the president’s brother, told the New York Times that: “All appropriate gift and estate tax returns were filed, and the required taxes were paid. Our father’s estate was closed in 2001 by both the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State tax authorities, and our mother’s estate was closed in 2004.”

But the settling of the Trump’s parents’ estates didn’t happen “many decades ago.”

The rest of the statement slams the Times and the media at large for not casting Trump’s accomplishments in office in a positive light. The White House dedicates fully three quarters of its statement to trashing the Times, but it appears to imply that the documents reviewed by the Times reflect reality.

In conclusion, Trump may have exaggerated his personal wealth or success on the campaign trail.

Here’s the White House’s full statement:

“Fred Trump has been gone for nearly twenty years and it’s sad to witness this misleading attack against the Trump family by the failing New York Times. Many decades ago the IRS reviewed and signed off on these transactions. The New York Times’ and other media outlets’ credibility with the American people is at an all time low because they are consumed with attacking the president and his family 24/7 instead of reporting the news. The truth is the market is at an all-time high, unemployment is at a fifty year low, taxes for families and businesses have been cut, wages are up, farmers and workers are empowered from better trade deals, and America’s military is stronger than ever, yet the New York Times can rarely find anything positive about the President and his tremendous record of success to report. Perhaps another apology from the New York Times, like the one they had to issue after they got the 2016 election so embarrassingly wrong, is in order.”

Welcome to Fat Bear Week at Mashable! Each fall, Katmai National Park holds a competition as Alaska’s brown bears finish fattening up for their long winter hibernation. This year, Mashable is getting in on the salmon-munching action. Check back with us all week as we follow the fat bear face-offs each day, and remember to get your votes in for each round. Happy fishing!

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In July 2014, a stranded bear cub spent the night clinging to the upper reaches of a spruce tree along the banks of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. 

After spending at least 24 hours curled up amid the branches, the young, largely helpless bear likely succumbed to thirst and hunger, and crawled down.

The 1.5 year-old bear was motherless and alone. Rangers in Katmai watched as a dominant male had begun to pursue and soon mate with the cub’s mother, Bear 402, forcing the female bear to either abandon the cub or push it out on its own earlier than expected.

Hungry and distraught, the cub wandered the pumice-covered shores of frigid Naknek Lake. Things appeared dire for the little bear, who was ill-equipped to catch fish on its own. 

But by the end of July, something surprising happened. 

The cub was seen trailing Bear 435, Holly, a popular bear cam bear and competitor in this year’s Fat Bear Week contest to pick the fattest bear at the Brooks River. 

As the summer advanced, it appeared Holly (who already had her own biological cub in tow) had “adopted” this stranded bear, which rangers soon gave the identifying number “503.”

Four years later, Bear 503 is a successful young adult bear. So successful, in fact, that he too is squaring off in the Fat Bear Week bracket. 

But without the aid of Holly, it’s unlikely he would have survived. Around two out of three brown bear cubs die even under good circumstances. 

“He was a full member of the family”

“Looking back, I understand now how rare of an opportunity it was to witness Holly, her biological cub, and 503 together,” Mike Fitz, a former Katmai ranger who documented the adoption event, said over email. 

“We saw that 503 wasn’t just tolerated by Holly,” said Fitz. “He was treated like one of her biological offspring. He nursed alongside Holly’s spring cub. He was given the same care and guidance as her spring cub. He was a full member of the family.”

The family group, now three, was spotted everywhere together, as they napped, nursed, and fed. As summer waned, they also grew fat together. Eventually, they hibernated together. 

Such a wild adoption event appears to be quite rare, but it’s not altogether unprecedented. After digging through the bear research literature, Fitz found scientists had mentioned it occurring before, but the researchers didn’t document the rich details of such an adoption. 

“The research didn’t describe how mothers cared for adopted cubs or how the cubs interacted with their new siblings,” said Fitz.

It will always be uncertain exactly why Holly adopted 503. 

As Fitz speculated that summer, it could have been altruism, or something approximating altruism. But maybe that’s just what, we — the human viewers — wanted it to be. 

Image: Bob Al-greene/mashable

And even if pure altruism does exist in the animal world, the adoption might have actually been a strategic survival technique: The Alaskan winter is long, relentless, and harsh.

“Will an extra warm body in the den benefit her and her genetic cub during hibernation?” Fitz wondered.

Abandoned, or set free?

The somewhat forgotten story, overshadowed by the adoption, is why Bear 402 — 503’s biological mother — abandoned him.

The most sensible reason is that, after being pursued by a massive male bear that wanted to mate with 402, she was forced to abandon 503.

But, 503 might not actually have been abandoned. 

“I no longer think that is an accurate description of what happened,” said Fitz. “He was emancipated.”

In Fitz’s view, Bear 402 did not ditch her young offspring. Instead, she “freed” 503 a bit earlier than is typical. 

Bear 402, rangers soon observed, had entered estrus and was physiologically prepared to mate again. A large male, Bear 856, took notice.

Normally, a mother bear will defend her cubs from approaching males, as they’ve been known to threaten and kill cubs.

But in July 2014, Bear 402 began to let the large, intimidating male approach. Eventually, said Fitz, this was likely the cub’s signal to get going — on his own.

He did, and landed in a new family group captained and protected by Holly. From all appearances, that adoption served 503 tremendous benefit. He’s now a Fat Bear Week competitor, after all.

“503 is growing fast and he’s already quite large for his age,” said Fitz. 

“More than any other brown bear story at Brooks River, his demonstrates perseverance against the odds and (so far) success in a tough landscape.”

 

 

Vientiane, Laos – Inside a packed lecture hall at the American Centre in the capital Vientiane, 60 National University of Laos students sit surrounded by framed posters featuring inspirational quotes by American icons Martin Luther King Jr, Maya Angelou and Steve Jobs.

On the screen at the front of the room, Vientiane Times journalist Keoxomphou Sakdavong begins her US embassy-sponsored event, How to Spot Fake News, by broadcasting on Facebook Live from the manicured lawn outside the hall.

“Fake news is created by all,” Sakdavong, 41, told students in attendance as she entered and began her presentation and slideshow. 

“In Laos, people believe what they read automatically and share it right away without thinking of the negative impact it may have on others,” the journalist added. 

A common refrain used in Laos – a communist country with no media freedom – is “if you don’t give us any information at least fake news is better than no news”. 

You can’t post anything about the government, anything that could harm national security, or anything that could put government agencies in trouble.

Soupha Rawady, said Laotian activist

Anan Bouapha, the 31-year-old founder of Proud to be us Laos – the country’s only LGBT advocacy group, said: “A lot has changed in the last two months since the dam collapse. People are becoming more vocal.”

Laotians turned to Facebook when news of the floods last July was slow to trickle out from government sources. Thirty-nine people died and 97 are still missing following the dam collapse in Attapeu province, according to officials.

Many believe the death toll is higher, but have no way to verify these claims. Journalists who stray too far from their official sources are usually silenced or pressured to resign.

Aid workers and individuals working for NGOs, and those working for the UN, have been too afraid to make public statements about Laos since the forced disappearance of community development worker Sombath Somphone from a Vientiane street nearly six years ago.

One former journalist in the capital admitted he was forced to leave the profession for pursuing stories the government was uncomfortable with. Human rights and democracy are two taboo subjects often dealt with using careful language.

Pressure is not only put on journalists. 

Now, influential Facebook users in Laos, pejoratively referred to as “net idols”, are facing retribution for their posts.

Phijika Boonkwang, president of the Vientiane United Football Club, was forced to resign last month after posting a Facebook Live video criticising the poor state of a road leading to the national football federation in Vientiane.

Boonkwang compared the muddy, unpaved, road to one in Attapeu, where she was involved in the humanitarian response. Boonkwang was accused of harming the reputation of Laos and conducting inappropriate activities on Facebook, according to the US-funded Radio Free Asia.

“You can’t post anything about the government, anything that could harm national security, or anything that could put government agencies in trouble,” said Laotian activist Soupha Rawady. “She said please don’t mistakenly think that this road is in Attapeu. This is in Vientiane. There’s nothing wrong with that.” 

Boonkwang later apologised in another video post for “using the wrong words to express her desire to see the road conditions improve”. But the damage was already done. She reported to Vientiane police earlier in September.

Freedom of expression online seemed to be tolerated in Laos, but the policing of the internet is becoming more common, as many have received invitations to meet police, or face criminal charges.

Boonkwang has more than 46,000 followers on Facebook. 

Around 60 percent of people in Laos, a country of around seven million, are under 25 years of age.

“Before you say something or do a live video you have to think about our national image. That’s what the [government has told] all online users,” Bouapha said. 

In 2014, the government issued a decree criminalising online criticism of its policies. 

Charges of criminal defamation can be levelled against anybody. This legislation requires all social media accounts be set up using real names and identities.

“If you post something that is against the law you can be jailed,” said Rawady.

In 2016, three Laotians living in Thailand were charged for criticising the government online.

They were arrested once they returned to Laos to renew their passports and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 20 years at a secret trial in April 2017, according to Radio Free Asia.

An unverified Facebook page called “Support Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith” has 188,000 followers. Laotians believe its run by the prime minister’s office to highlight his hands-on approach to politics and national development.

In a post last month, Prime Minister Sisoulith called on experts to reveal the truth behind the dam collapse in Attapeu. Many viewed this as a critique of his government’s inaction.

“[Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith] shares many things about people complaining about the government, or blaming government agencies or officials. I like it,” said Rawady. “He’s quite liberal compared to the previous [prime ministers]. There are many things he needs to do, but he’s doing the best he can so far.”

The Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters without Borders, ranks Laos near the bottom of its 2018 World Press Freedom Index (170 out of 179 countries). 

The US-based Freedom House states Lao media is not free and internet service providers are controlled by the state. 

Only 18 percent of Laotians are online but this number has grown in urban areas.

Sakdavong says Laotians are subscribing to Facebook every day to access news and information. But with an adult literacy rate lower than the regional standards – 79 percent in Laos – media and digital literacy are lacking.

“It’s important to check the source of the news you’re reading online,” Sakdavong warned students at the American Centre. “You need to think more critically about what you see on Facebook.”

She was careful not to discuss misinformation emanating from southern Laos following the dam collapse in Attapeu. She doesn’t want to be accused of “harming the reputation of the nation” as was the case with Boonkwang. 

“Facebook is an independent platform and you can record live and say whatever you want to say,” said Bouapha. “Laos media consumers don’t watch national TV. People from all walks of life prefer to use Facebook every day.”

Souliyo Vongdala, 27, runs the Laotian news portal Muan (meaning “fun” in English). Its Facebook page has over 179,000 followers. He works closely with government agencies to combat the spread of fake news on Facebook. 

“We were not taught in school to think or critique. We were taught to remember,” Vongdala said. “We lack critical thinking skills. I think it’s concerning.” 

A government crackdown on social media in Laos is unlikely to be as severe as in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, where cybercrime laws and ministerial decrees are used to jail dissidents. 

Facebook users in Laos with “net idol” status could be considered a concern to national security, but will most likely be monitored by authorities rather than detained by them for their posts.

Back inside the American Centre lecture hall, Sakdavong shares some final words with the students.

“Be very observant and pay attention to details.”