Country KEY DEVELOPMENTS ON THREATS AGAINST CRITICS AND POLITICAL OPPOSITION IN 2023 Cambodia Judicial harassment against dissidents and opposition politicians is common. During the 2023 election year, many opposition politicians and activists were targeted in politically motivated cases. Some opposition activists were also offered positions if they support the government. Many of them decided to take the offer, after which they apologized on social media to Hun Sen. Hun Sen had also frequently boasted about the government’s surveillance capability although it is unclear what kind of technology or approach is used. Indonesia Many individuals have been prosecuted under the ITE Law for online speech. Digital attacks including hacking and spyware against independent media and political opposition have also been documented. The government of Joko Widodo has been alleged to use spyware, reported to be Pegasus, for political gain. Malaysia The Communications and Multimedia Act and Sedition Act continue to be the main laws used by the government of Anwar Ibrahim. Many cases are related to race, religion, and royalty which highly protected under Malaysian law. Myanmar Anti-junta individuals are being doxed by pro-government Telegram users, leading to their arrest by the junta. The military is in possession of various surveillance technologies, some of which were purchased during the time of the civilian government. Among the technology that was purchased was a spyware from the Israeli company, Cognyte. The military also introduced an e-ID scheme and required all the mobile users to register their SIM cards. Philippines Red-tagging continues to be a threat against activists during the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Red-tagging is a feature of a talk show in the pro-Duterte Sonshine Media Network International before its operations were suspended. Singapore The Protection on Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act has regularly been used against independent media and dissidents as a means to maintain the government’s clean reputation. The government has also been alleged of conducting surveillance against opposition politicians including secret filming to monitor their movements and using spyware. Thailand The lèse-majesté law is often used along with the repressive Computer Crime Act to target activists and dissidents. Dissidents who challenge the status quo are also targets of online smear campaigns by conservatives. Spyware was documented earlier as a cyber threat against pro-democracy activists. Vietnam Dissidents are harassed and imprisoned on a regular basis for criticizing the communist government on social media platforms. The Vietnamese government has been documented to be in possession of the Predator spyware which was allegedly used on foreign lawmakers and journalists. 20