Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia The first five of these areas (Section III. a. Existing legal frameworks) are generally part of the legal frameworks of the countries that have historically been used to clamp down on free expression and information online, even if the laws themselves were not specifically designed to address online speech. In some cases, such as sedition and lesè majesté laws in the region, centuries-old laws have been retained and misused to expand restrictions on more contemporary forms of expression online, often augmented with new legal provisions which expand government powers to regulate the internet. The last four areas (Section III. b. Emerging legal frameworks) are more recent efforts aimed at controlling expression and information on the internet. These laws sometimes set up freestanding regulatory regimes affecting the internet economy, particularly social media platforms, including through the creation of new criminal causes of action or extending existing causes of action in domestic criminal legal frameworks to the online sphere. These laws pose a particular threat in that they expand States’ powers to surveil and control information in the cybersphere, where vast amounts of data can be systematically retained, recovered and misused to target individuals. At the same time, there may be opportunities to engage with governments and the private sector to find human rights-sensitive ways to to address legitimate policy concerns. 41