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ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship 45. Manushya Foundation, Today marks the International #DayOfTheDisappeared! Where are Sombath, Od and Lu ??, (30 August 2023), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/post/ today-marks-the-international-dayofthedisappeared-where-are-sombath-od-and-lu; Joint Statement, Laos: 11 years of government inaction on Sombath Somphone’s enforced disappearance, (15 December 2023), available at: https://www. manushyafoundation.org/js-11-years-since-sombaths-enforced-disappearance; Manushya Foundation, Money over Lives, Lies over the Truth: the state of economic, social, and cultural rights in Laos, (22 November 2023), available at: https:// www.manushyafoundation.org/jointcivilsocietyreportcescrlaos2023; Manushya Foundation, Our New Report sheds light on the dire situation of economic, social, and cultural rights in Laos, (22 November 2023), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/post/our-newreport-sheds-light-on-the-diresituation-of-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-inlaos 46. Manushya Foundation, Lao PDR’s ruthless crackdown on critics strips Lao human rights defenders from basic human rights, (29 September 2022), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/ post/lao-pdr-s-ruthless-crackdown-on-critics-stripslao-human-rights-defenders-from-basic-humanrights 47. Manushya Foundation, UPR Factsheet: Civic Space in Lao PDR, (January 2020), available at: https:// www.manushyafoundation.org/lao-pdr-upr-factsheets; Manushya Foundation, Money over Lives, Lies over the Truth: the state of economic, social, and cultural rights in Laos, (22 November 2023), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/ jointcivilsocietyreportcescrlaos2023; Manushya Foundation, Our New Report sheds light on the dire situation of economic, social, and cultural rights in Laos, (22 November 2023), available at: https:// www.manushyafoundation.org/post/our-newreportsheds-light-on-the-dire-situation-of-economic-socialand-cultural-rights-in-laos; Manushya Foundation, In the Shadows of Power: women confronting patriarchy in Laos, (29 November 2023), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/joint-civil-society-report-cedaw 48. Radio Free Asia, Lao Citizens Turn More to Internet, Social Media For Their News, (24 April 2019), available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/ news-04242019173907.html 144 49. ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship, Manushya Foundation, Laos: The Lao Government Must Stop Online Surveillance and Mandatory Registration of Social Media Platforms, (28 May 2021), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/joint-statement-laos-govt-must-stop; Manushya Foundation, #StopDigitalDictatorship in Laos!, (28 May 2021), available at: https://www. manushyafoundation.org/post/stopdigitaldictatorship-in-lao 50. Radio Free Asia, ຜູ້ໃຊ້ສື່ສັງຄົມອ໋ອນລາຍນ໌ ວິຈານຣັຖ ບານ ຖືກຕິດຕາມໃກ້ຊິດ, (9 September 2023), available at: https://www.rfa.org/lao/daily/politics/laoyoutube-channels-criticizes-the-lao-govt-are-warnedsome-told-to-shut-down-09052023222841.html 51. Manushya Foundation, Money over Lives, Lies over the Truth: the state of economic, social, and cultural rights in Laos, (22 November 2023), available at: https://www.manushyafoundation.org/jointcivilsocietyreportcescrlaos2023; Manushya Foundation, Our New Report sheds light on the dire situation of economic, social, and cultural rights in Laos, (22 November 2023), available at: https://www. manushyafoundation.org/post/our-newreportsheds-light-on-the-dire-situation-of-economic-socialand-cultural-rights-in-laos 52. US State Department, 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Laos, (30 March 2021), available at: https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/laos/ 53. Radio Free Asia, Laotians ‘Confused’ by President Urging Police Whistleblowing, Threatening Social Media Use, (12 April 2021), available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/president-04122021153932.html 54. CIVICUS Monitor, Clampdown on expression online persists as Laos slips further down the press freedom rankings, (29 May 2020), available at: https://monitor.civicus.org/updates/2020/05/29/ clampdown-expression-online-persists-laos-slipsfurther-down-press-freedom-rankings/; Radio Free Asia, Laotians ‘Confused’ by President Urging Police Whistleblowing, Threatening Social Media Use, (12 April 2021), available at: https://www.rfa.org/ english/news/laos/president-04122021153932.html 55. Radio Free Asia, Laotians ‘Confused’ by President Urging Police Whistleblowing, Threatening Social Media Use, (12 April 2021), available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/president-04122021153932.html; Radio Free Asia, Lao Facebook User Who Criticized Government Granted Rare Release on Bail, (1 October 2020), available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/thitsy-10012020164221.html Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia

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Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia March 2024

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Language

English

Topic

Digital Rights
Digital Surveillance
Information Operation
Internet Restrictions

Author(s)

MANUSHYA

Date Published: Mar 8, 2024

Abstract: Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia March 2024 Whether we like it or not, we are living through a pivotal moment for the future of human rights. This includes the issue of our digital rights, and the question of our online freedoms. In places like Southeast Asia, where the majority of its peoples are experiencing immense threats to their online and offline freedoms, at the hands of opportunistic governments and corporations, this is especially prevalent. The digital space has become an integral part of human life, and is still growing in its influence over our world. Accordingly, if our freedoms in the digital space are endangered, our freedoms overall are endangered as well.

It is understandable to feel powerless while possessing this knowledge. But it is not enough to just know about the forces acting against our human rights, and understand that they are dangerous. If we truly want to create a safer, more equitable, more liberated world - which we all know, deep down, is possible - we must understand these forces, and act accordingly. We must equip ourselves with knowledge about what governments, corporations, and other powers that be are doing, alongside demanding our rights to freedom. The powers that be have weaponised the online and digital space, as well as the law, against the people that these things are supposed to serve and protect. It is our right to protect ourselves with research, knowledge, advocacy, and the power of the people. When we understand the powers we are up against, fighting back will become less daunting.

This is what our report, titled Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia, is for. Join us in powering ourselves with knowledge, in order to compel ourselves to action!

As always, our work is rooted in decolonial, feminist, intersectional values, with historically marginalised people at the centre. Thus, this work was a collaboration between a coalition of groups oriented in these values: ALTSEAN-Burma, Cambodian Center for Human Rights, ELSAM, Free Expression Myanmar, Foundation for Media Alternatives, ILGA Asia, Manushya Foundation, The Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network, SAFEnet, Viet Tan, and Women’s Peace Network. What is the ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship? The ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship was established in 2020, by human rights and digital rights activists from Southeast Asia, on a mission to decolonize digital rights and restore our online democracies.

Together, we stand in solidarity with one another, with people from the Global Majority, resisting and pushing back against authoritarian governments and complicit tech companies.

We tell our realities from the ground, and we develop solutions together.

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Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia March 2024

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