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POLITICAL PROFILE & CASE STUDY CAMBODIA Fig. 1.4: Case study - Voice Of Democracy Cambodia journalists and Khmer Thavarak activists. 2023 Political Overview Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy with an elected parliamentary government in theory, authoritarian regime in practice. Head of State, Monarch Head of Government Norodom Sihamoni Prime Minister Hun Manet (de facto authority; assumed office in August; preceded by his father, Prime Minister Hun Sen) #VoiceOfDemocracyCambodia #KhmerThavarak Hun Vannak �� CASE STUDY Member of The Khmer Thavarak Activist Group Digital Dictatorship used to silence Cambodian journalists and environmental justice activists. WHEN 16 August 2022 (arrests) Myanmar WHERE Phnom Tamao Zoo, Cambodia (site the journalists and activists were reporting on and defending, and where they were arrested) Vietnam Laos WHO �� Nine people of different genders (NB: some activists remain anonymous) �� 5 Cambodian Voice of Democracy (VOD) Journalists… ∙ Only some of these �� …and 4 Cambodian Thailand environmental activists from the Khmer Thavarak activist group journalists have ∙ Only some of these publicised their faces activists have publicised and/or names (e.g. their faces and names (e.g. journalist Mom activist Hun Vannak) Cambodia Moniroth) WHY/WHAT �� Reported on government/corporat e attempts to clear the land at Phnom Tamao Zoo ��Entered Phnom Tamao Zoo in a supposed ‘prohibited’ area and attempted to take photographs of the land and expose the land clearing that was being carried out. Malaysia HOW ⚠ How Digital Dictatorship has caused the violation of these HRDs and journalists’ human rights �� They were arrested, detained and questioned by PM Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit. 56 �� Activist Hun Vannak alleged that the bodyguard unit violently handled them while they were being arrested. Camboja News, Journalists and environmental activists detained, beaten, (16 August 2022), available at: https://cambojanews.com/journalists-and-environmental-activistsdetained-beaten/ Arrests, litigation, and the other forms of harassment mentioned in this case study are just some examples of how Digital Dictatorship has affected the individual(s) mentioned, as well as Southeast Asian societythe as a Law whole. HRDs and/or journalists, including the one(s) Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia in this case study, are often perpetually targeted by Digital Dictatorship in numerous ways that go beyond just what is discussed here.

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Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia March 2024

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English

Topic

Digital Rights
Digital Surveillance
Information Operation
Internet Restrictions

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MANUSHYA

Date Published: Mar 8, 2024

Abstract: Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia March 2024 Whether we like it or not, we are living through a pivotal moment for the future of human rights. This includes the issue of our digital rights, and the question of our online freedoms. In places like Southeast Asia, where the majority of its peoples are experiencing immense threats to their online and offline freedoms, at the hands of opportunistic governments and corporations, this is especially prevalent. The digital space has become an integral part of human life, and is still growing in its influence over our world. Accordingly, if our freedoms in the digital space are endangered, our freedoms overall are endangered as well.

It is understandable to feel powerless while possessing this knowledge. But it is not enough to just know about the forces acting against our human rights, and understand that they are dangerous. If we truly want to create a safer, more equitable, more liberated world - which we all know, deep down, is possible - we must understand these forces, and act accordingly. We must equip ourselves with knowledge about what governments, corporations, and other powers that be are doing, alongside demanding our rights to freedom. The powers that be have weaponised the online and digital space, as well as the law, against the people that these things are supposed to serve and protect. It is our right to protect ourselves with research, knowledge, advocacy, and the power of the people. When we understand the powers we are up against, fighting back will become less daunting.

This is what our report, titled Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia, is for. Join us in powering ourselves with knowledge, in order to compel ourselves to action!

As always, our work is rooted in decolonial, feminist, intersectional values, with historically marginalised people at the centre. Thus, this work was a collaboration between a coalition of groups oriented in these values: ALTSEAN-Burma, Cambodian Center for Human Rights, ELSAM, Free Expression Myanmar, Foundation for Media Alternatives, ILGA Asia, Manushya Foundation, The Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network, SAFEnet, Viet Tan, and Women’s Peace Network. What is the ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship? The ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship was established in 2020, by human rights and digital rights activists from Southeast Asia, on a mission to decolonize digital rights and restore our online democracies.

Together, we stand in solidarity with one another, with people from the Global Majority, resisting and pushing back against authoritarian governments and complicit tech companies.

We tell our realities from the ground, and we develop solutions together.

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Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia March 2024

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