Regional trends in criminalisation of expression online: An overview Introduction to the six states Geetha Hariharan Some speech is criminal, says the law. Unshackling Expression is about this speech, which, legitimately or otherwise, is criminalised in the six states across Asia that are addressed in this report. It studies the criminalisation, and more broadly, some of the restrictions that are placed on the right to freedom of opinion and expression on the internet in Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand. These states were chosen as representative of South and Southeast Asia, and therefore show us a representative picture of the state of freedom of expression on the internet in the region. The constitutions of these six states guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression to their citizens. In none of these states is this right absolute, and the states lay down justifications for the curtailment of the right in their constitutions or other legal documents. Some of the prominent justifications that states provide are national security, friendly relations between states, sedition, defamation, hate speech, blasphemy, public order, obscenity, pornography and related expressions, and gender and sexual expression, among others. These justifications, applied variously in the six states, have a direct and detrimental impact on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including political expression. While each of these states is unique in the restrictions it places on online freedom of expression, and the manner in which it applies them, certain common threads run across the region. This chapter studies the commonalities and differences among these states in their criminalisation and restriction of freedom of expression. The first part provides an overview of the six states that are part of Unshackling Expression. The second part of this chapter considers commonalities, pointing to trends that run across the six states. Finally, it enumerates some of the divergent trends that distinguish the six states from each other. This section introduces each of the six states that are part of Unshackling Expression, with a focus on the laws affecting online freedom of expression. Cambodia The Cambodian constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expression in Article 41, which states: “Khmer citizens shall have freedom to express their ideas.” Not only this, but the constitution protects a series of connected rights, such as the rights to political participation and privacy. International human rights law is directly applicable in Cambodia, by way of Article 31 of the constitution. Cambodia has a growing number of internet users. As of November 2016, its internet penetration stood at 46.4% of the population. The internet has revolutionised news and information consumption in Cambodia. Prior to the advent of the internet, Cambodian media were all state-run or state-affiliated, directly or indirectly, and therefore, all news and information was mediated by the state. However, with the internet, this trend has changed, with individuals and alternative media being able to play a more active, independent role in news and content creation and consumption. But the state continues to expand its role as gatekeeper, by placing strict and increasing controls on the internet. For instance, while there exist several laws, such as the constitution, the Law on the Press, the Law on Education, etc., which guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression to citizens, the government has simultaneously placed strong restrictions through other means. Informal orders of the government and orders from the telecom regulator are used to curb expression online. Offline laws are used to target online speech as well. Political opposition is strongly discouraged through the use of criminalisation. Not only are there laws that target associations and NGOs, political parties and electoral speech, but a cybercrime bill has been proposed which also enables the government to dissolve legal entities (including civil society organisations) on the 22 / Unshackling Expression