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ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship 89. Vientiane Times, Facebook takes down over 12 million items of misinformation last year, (9 February 2020), available at: https://www.vientianetimes.org. la/ 90. Access Now, Laos directs surveillance of social media platforms, further throttling expression online, (25 May 2021), available at: https://www.accessnow.org/laos-directs-surveillance-of-social-media-platforms/; The Vientiane Times, Ministry orders social media platforms to register, (20 May 2021), available at: https://www.vientianetimes.org.la 91. Manushya Foundation, Joint Statement Laos: The Lao Government Must Stop Online Surveillance and Mandatory Registration of Social Media Platforms, (28 May 2021), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/joint-statement-laos-govt-muststop 92. CIVICUS Monitor, Clampdown on expression online persists as Laos slips further down the press freedom rankings, (29 May 2020), available at: https:// monitor.civicus.org/updates/2020/05/29/clampdown-expression-online-persists-laos-slips-furtherdown-press-freedom-rankings/ 93. Radio Free Asia, Vietnam, Laos Arrest Facebookers on COVID-19-Related Charges, (13 April 2020), available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/ facebook-04132020154643.html 94. Manushya Foundation, Joint Civil Society Report CEDAW Laos 2023, (29 November 2023), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/joint-civil-society-report-cedaw 95. IPU Parline, 2021 Monthly Ranking of Women in National Parliaments, (n.d.), available at: https://data. ipu.org/parliament/la?chamber_id=13502 96. IPU Parline, 2021 Monthly Ranking of Women in National Parliaments, (n.d.), available at: https://data. ipu.org/parliament/la?chamber_id=13502 97. United Nations Population Fund, National University of Laos and UNFPA Launch The Country’s First Preliminary Findings on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence, (15 December 2023), available at: https://lao.unfpa.org/en/news/national-university-laos-and-unfpa-launch-countrys-first-preliminary-findings-technology 98. New Naratif, Structural and Systemic Factors Hindering Democracy in SEA: A Feminist Perspective, (22 November 2023), available at: https://newnaratif.com/structural-and-systemic-factors-hindering-democracy-in-sea-a-feminist-perspective/ 148 99. United Nations Population Fund, The Nation’s First Multi-stakeholder Dialogue On Online Violence Against Women and Girls Is Happening In Vientiane, (16 June 2023), available at: https://lao.unfpa. org/en/news/nations-first-multi-stakeholder-dialogue-online-violence-against-women-and-girls-happening 100. UN Women Asia Pacific, Toolkit- Youth Guide To End Online Gender-Based Violence, (n.d.), available at: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/partnerships/30-for-2030/toolkit-youth-guide-to-end-onlinegender-based-violence 101. Amended Constitution of the Lao PDR (2015) available at: https://www.parliament.go.th/ewtadmin/ ewt/ac/ewt_dl_link.php?nid=119&filename=parsystem2 102. US State Department, 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Laos, (30 March 2021), available at: https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/laos/; Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2020: Laos, (2020), available at: https://freedomhouse.org/ country/laos/freedom-world/2020 103. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Permanent Mission of the Lao PDR to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations, Geneva, No. 234/Lao.PM.GE.22, (7 November 2022), available at: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=37244 104. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Concluding observations on the initial report of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, CCPR/C/LAO/CO/1, (23 November 2018), available at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/ LAO/CO/1&Lang=En 105. The Edge Markets, Cari: Whistleblowing laws in Asean in the context of ease of doing business, (29 November 2019), available at: https://www. theedgemarkets.com/article/cari-whistleblowinglaws-asean-context-ease-doing-business; UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Supporting Lao PDR to pursue sustainable growth through corruption eradication, (8 April 2016), available at: https://www.unodc.org/ southeastasiaandpacific/en/what-we-do/anti-corruption/topics/04-lao-corruption.html Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia

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

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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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