both state and transnational threats to digital rights. Introduction Currently, 46% of the population of South Asia is connected to the mobile internet and over 80% now have access to a 4G or 5G smartphone (GMSA, 2024). The proliferation of digital technologies has led to at least 35 tech-centered regulations, over 20,000 court cases against human rights violations (Reporters Without Borders, 2024), and around 170 internet shutdowns between South and Southeast Asia (Access Now, 2024). Several countries in South Asia, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, have been experiencing a decline in fundamental rights such as privacy and freedom of expression. Governments in the region have long exploited state machinery to frame their oppressive governance as necessary for national security, economic prosperity, and geopolitical autonomy. With the emergence of new technologies, politically and economically unstable institutions have become even more effective tools for expanding state control. These trends stem from the ongoing erosion of civic freedoms, driven by the manipulation of religious, ethnic, caste, and gender divisions, and their conflation through overt nationalism. The decline in rights has been further intensified by disinformation campaigns, targeted censorship, and covert surveillance, while weakened institutional protections have left little room for collective action. Technology companies inevitably become complicit. Although the vast majority of their users reside outside this region, these firms are predominantly domiciled in the Global North (Tworek, 2021). This historical underinvestment means a lack of resources for content moderation in local languages, weak accountability and enforceability mechanisms, and a widening trust gap between public and private sectors. Compliance efforts are often superficial, as companies have little incentive to establish meaningful safeguards—their headquarters remain in the Global North, and public discourse there rarely prioritizes issues affecting the Global Majority. Countries in regions like South Asia must continually negotiate the trade-offs between sovereignty, governance, and equitable access to technology. In response to these pressing challenges, digital rights-focused civil society organizations (CSOs) have 5