Internet & Online Safety · Laos
Online safety & content laws in Laos (2026)
Laos shaded by its internet & online safety status
Laos operates one of the most restrictive online environments in Southeast Asia, combining a 2015 cybercrime law, executive decrees banning criticism of the government online, and mandatory real-name registration for social media users and platforms. Rather than a rights-oriented safety framework, the regime emphasises state surveillance and content control, with a specialised Ministry of Public Security taskforce monitoring social media for 'fake news'. A new comprehensive Cybersecurity Law (79 articles, 11 chapters) was reviewed by the National Assembly in June 2025 and, if passed, would extend these controls with formal emergency-response and registration obligations.
Key points
The Law on Prevention and Combating Cyber Crime, enacted 15 July 2015, criminalises unauthorised access, data interference, online defamation, and distribution of pornography; it established LaoCERT as the national CSIRT and underpins enforcement against online speech critical of the government.
Prime Ministerial Decree No. 327 (16 September 2014) prohibits online content deemed threatening to national security or social stability, requires websites to verify information before publication, bans pseudonymous social media accounts, and mandates that only state-approved information be used 'officially'.
A 2020 directive required all social media outlets and individual publishers to register with the Mass Media Department; a September 2024 directive reiterated the ban on unregistered publishing and threatened legal consequences under media and cybercrime laws. Civil-society coalitions led by Access Now called on the government to halt these requirements in 2025.
The Ministry of Public Security established a specialised inter-agency taskforce drawing on police and the Mass Media Department to monitor social media platforms in real time and combat 'fake news', with vague definitions that human-rights organisations argue enable suppression of legitimate criticism.
On 23 June 2025, the National Assembly reviewed a government-drafted Law on Cybersecurity (10 parts, 11 chapters, 79 articles) presented by the Ministry of Technology and Communications. It introduces formal cybersecurity registration for businesses, emergency-response protocols, and system-recovery obligations, and is intended to align Laos with international cyber-norms, though it had not yet been passed as of mid-2025.
Reporters Without Borders consistently ranks Laos near the bottom of its Press Freedom Index (172nd out of 179 in 2020); bloggers and online activists critical of the government have faced detention. The US State Department's 2022 Human Rights Report confirmed that authorities monitored and restricted internet use and prosecuted individuals for online speech.
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