ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship Thousands of displaced Rohingya are currently If Southeast Asian governments truly wanted to seeking refuge on the coasts of Indonesia, demonstrate their commitment to human rights, Thailand Myanmar. they would, at very least, implement effective Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, has not remedy measures to handle cases of human signed the 1951 United Nations Convention on rights abuses, including implementing procedural Refugees, which sets out legal protections, and safeguards and independent oversight. Right is therefore under no legal obligation to accept now, no Southeast Asian government has these them. What’s more, these Rohingya face hostility systems in place at an adequate level. For example, from the local population. It is risky enough to be Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and a vocal HRD of any kind in Southeast Asia; HRDs Vietnam have no specific legislation to protect with intersectional marginalised identities are at people from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public an even greater risk, as the oppressive bodies will Participation (SLAPP), at all. Lao PDR does not intentionally use hateful, discriminatory language even recognise human rights defenders, and and other forms of violence against them. does not have any anti-SLAPP measures in place. and Malaysia, fleeing 10 It is paradoxical for Southeast Asian governments to claim that they are champions of human rights and freedom, while allowing these intense abuses to happen against people expressing themselves freely online and offline. There is no need for such pretence while our democracies are clearly under attack in Southeast Asia. According to Freedom House’s methodology, and as indicated in each Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand are among the few countries who have some anti-SLAPP provisions; however, they are either insufficient, very limited (for example, in the case of the Philippines where provisions are only available regarding environmental cases), or difficult to put into practice because of the inefficient judicial systems in place. of our Thematic Report chapters, all except four All the above are very concerning symptoms of the Southeast Asian nations mentioned in our of digital dictatorship. Evidently, oppressive Report were considered ‘authoritarian’ (‘not free’) governments across Southeast Asia recognise states in 2023. The only four that were considered the power of the internet, surveillance technology, ‘semi-authoritarian’ (‘partly free’) were Singapore, and Artificial Intelligence, and have abused them Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines; these for their own gain. If digital freedoms are under three were considered ‘semi-authoritarian.’ Thus, threat, then human rights are under threat. This is it will undeniably take time to fully revolutionise poignantly demonstrated in the way that Freedom outdated and harmful systemic structures; fixing House’s ‘Freedom on the Net’ (FOTN) and ‘Freedom these complex systems will not happen overnight. in the World’ (FITW) reports have both depicted However, the complexity of these structures is declining trends in societal freedoms. 11 no excuse for denying people of human rights. 10. Associated Press News, As more Rohingya arrive by boat, Indonesia asks the international community to share its burden, (December 12, 2023), available at: https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-myanmar-refugees-rohingya-6a4ab1304cf7e2b6c5fa1b8a456d9aca; Euronews with AFP, Rohingya refugees forcibly evicted by students in Indonesia, (27 December, 2023), available at: https://www.euronews. com/2023/12/27/ rohingya-refugees-forcibly-evicted-by-students-in-indonesia. 11. Freedom House, Countries and Territories, (last updated 2023), available at: https://freedomhouse.org/ countries/freedom-world/scores.; Freedom House, Freedom in the World Research Methodology, (last updated 2023), available at: https://freedomhouse. org/reports/freedomworld/freedom-world-research-methodology. 20 Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia