In a troubling sign of an even greater crackdown on free speech, the United Arab Emirates security forces have arrested an activist and charged him with “spreading false news” via Twitter.
The charge appears to be the first brought under the new cybercrime law updated in November of last year. The revision of the law was widely criticized for its exasperatingly broad language prohibiting a wide array of speech, including sarcasm directed toward the nation's leaders and even disparaging cartoons.
