earlier concerns, including the discovery of Pegasus spyware in Thailand in 2022, used against political dissidents during the height of pro-democracy protests against the then-government of Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who staged a coup d’état in 201474. In Indonesia, as the Attorney General’s Office reached an agreement with the four telecommunications companies in the country, raising further concerns in light of previously documented surveillance technology linked to Q Cyber Technologies (the parent company of NSO Group), the Intellexa consortium, Saito Tech (also known as Candiru), FinFisher and its wholly owned subsidiary Raedarious M8 Sdn Bhd, and Wintego Systems75. Also in 2025, the discovery of First Wap—an Indonesia-based company exporting surveillance technology worldwide—raised questions about how the country should regulate the export of such technology76. Following WhatsApp’s victory in its case against NSO Group—the manufacturer of Pegasus spyware—over the company’s exploitation of WhatsApp in 2019 to spy on users, court documents unsealed in 2025 revealed that more than 50 users in Indonesia were targeted77. Across Southeast Asia, activists’ devices are often confiscated when they are arrested. Activists have also raised concerns about technologies such as Cellebrite, which state authorities can use to access data on their devices. Given these emerging threats, capacity building among people vulnerable to surveillance should be further strengthened, while protections from abuses of surveillance technology at the policy level must also be explored more thoroughly. Moreover, while the presence of surveillance technologies has been documented, their use remains significantly underreported. “Parasite That Smiles: Pegasus Spyware Targeting Dissidents in Thailand.” iLaw and DigitalReach, 2022, www.ilaw.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Pegasus-Spyware-Targeting-Dissidents-in-Thailand.pdf. 75. “Indonesia: A Web of Surveillance—Unravelling a Murky Network of Spyware Exports to Indonesia.” Amnesty International, 1 May 2024, www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa21/7974/2024/en 76. “Surveillance Secrets.” Lighthouse Reports, 14 Oct. 2025, www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/ surveillance-secrets. 77. Franceschi-Bicchierai, Lorenzo. “Court Document Reveals Locations of WhatsApp Victims Targeted by NSO Spyware.” TechCrunch, 9 Apr. 2025, techcrunch.com/2025/04/09/court-document-revealslocations-of-whatsapp-victims-targeted-by-nso-spyware. 74. 23