PUBLISHED : 2 Sep 2024 at 05:00
Six countries along the Mekong River — Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand — have committed to working together to tackle fake news and cybercrime and also better protect the young online through shared legislation.
Diplomats and journalists from six participating countries met recently at the “Lancang-Mekong International Video and Photography Week 2024” in Yushu, Qinghai Province of China.
Other attendees included local officials from Qinghai Province and observers from Canada and the United States.
Representatives from media agencies agreed on the need for cooperation to preserve nature and the environment and mitigate fake news in the region, and agreed that there should be more coordination in information gathering to combat fake news.
The media also agreed that cultural connections could be used to strengthen regional ties — one suggestion being to source water for the Songkran Festival from the Lancang-Mekong River,
Meanwhile, Thiri San San, third secretary of the Myanmar Embassy, spoke at the event, to call for the adoption of shared laws to protect the young from cybercrime and cyberbullying.
The event also highlighted China’s support for the five countries in the Lancang-Mekong basin through medical aid to Laos’s poor and contributions to Sihanoukville’s development in Cambodia.