Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia i. The right to freedom of expression, opinion and information International law protects the right of every individual to freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers, under article 19 of ICCPR and article 19 of the UDHR, generally considered to reflect customary international law in this area. It is also protected in regional human rights treaties, including the American Convention on Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the Arab Charter on Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights. The great majority of States, albeit not all in the Southeast Asia, have assumed particular legal obligations to respect and protect these rights which enjoy universal protection as general rights protected under the ICCPR.27 Irrespective of whether States are party to the ICCPR, however, these rights must be protected under customary international law. States, including States in Southeast Asia, have reaffirmed this commitment in numerous declaratory statements and UN and other intergovernmental resolutions. For instance, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by consensus of all UN member states at the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 reaffirmed the “commitment of all States to fulfil their obligations to promote universal respect for, and observance and protection of, all human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with … instruments relating to human rights, and international law”, including the right to freedom of expression.28 Article 19 of the ICCPR specifically provides that: “1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. 2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. 3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to 27 28 Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam have ratified or acceded to the ICCPR, while Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore have not. Emphasis by author. Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, 25 June 1993, Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/vienna.aspx 17