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million followers have always been in question. In 2016, he was reportedly buying “likes” for his page from overseas56. After a speech attacking a political opponent was uploaded on January 9, 2023, the Meta Oversight Board decided that Hun Sen’s Facebook page should be suspended for incitement to violence. However, Hun Sen deactivated the page before the decision was implemented. His social media presence was then moved to Telegram and TikTok, where government officials reportedly tried to boost the number of the followers on these channels before the election57. At the time of the Facebook suspension, Hun Sen had only around 100,000 followers on TikTok. Audience boosting therefore became a major effort that included visits to university classrooms in Phnom Penh with printed copies of QR codes that link to Hun Sen’s accounts. Hun Sen and his cronies also called on people and local officials to follow these accounts, including at least two ministries reportedly issuing directives for employees to follow them. Pro-government media supported in the push to promote the accounts as well58. It was also reported that officials approached a creator of an existing Hun Sen fan page on TikTok with 300,000 followers, and requested whether they could take over the account59. 56 57 58 59 The dictator was also on Twitter (now known as X). Following the Thai election in May 2023, Hun Sen posted on Twitter linking the Cambodian opposition parties with the progressive Thai political party, Move Forward Party (MFP), after the latter won the most number of seats. Hun Sen regarded the failure of MFP to win an outright majority also as a failure of the Cambodian opposition. He was addressing an earlier remark from exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who said that he would travel to Cambodia through Thailand once a new government is formed. Thai netizens then bombarded the tweet with angry comments, an act impossible for Cambodians to do without risking the ire of their government. In response, he deleted his tweet, and posted a more benign message on Twitter and Telegram saying that he respects the decision of Thai people. In response to the decision of Meta’s Oversight Board to suspend Hun Sen’s Facebook page, he also threatened to block Facebook in the country. In the end, Meta decided to override its Oversight Board’s decision, and allowed the page to continue. With this decision, Hun Sen returned to Facebook, which is after all the platform where he has the most followers. Banning Facebook in Cambodia, in fact, would not have been easy given that “Cambodian PM Hun Sen Denies Buying Facebook Likes.” BBC News, 18 Mar. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/ world-asia-35839701. Kelliher, Fiona. “Ruling Cambodian Party Trying to Boost Hun Sen’s Numbers on TikTok, Telegram.” Voice of America, 15 July 2023, www.voanews.com/a/ruling-cambodian-party-trying-to-boost-hun-sen-s-numberson-tiktok-telegram-/7182042.html. Ibid. Ewe, Koh. “Cambodia’s Prime Minister Ditched Facebook, but His Followers Aren’t Following Him.” TIME, 5 July 2023, time.com/6292120/cambodia-prime-minister-hun-sen-facebook-telegram-tiktok-followers. 28

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Annual Report: Digital Rights in Southeast Asia 2023-2024

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Language

English

Topic

Digital Rights
Digital Surveillance
Information Operation
Internet Connectivity / Accessibility
Internet Restrictions

Author(s)

DigitalReach

Date Published: Aug 6, 2024

Abstract: It is undeniable that information technology has significantly impacted human rights and democracy these days. Different governments around Southeast Asia continually attempt to control digital space through, for example, using repressive laws and regulations, forcing social media platforms to follow their orders, and using spyware and similar technology to surveil critics. In Southeast Asia, democracy and human rights have deteriorated because of these attempts, especially for countries under authoritarian regimes.

In order to better understand the situation, DigitalReach publishes annual reports to present and analyze the events and trends around the region. The 2023 annual report analyzes the digital rights situation in eight countries across Southeast Asia—namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam–from January 2023 to December 2023, with glimpses of key updates into 2024, given the timing of its release.

The report format has been changed completely from the previous years. In order to more systematically present the developments observed, the report is organized into three key areas: (1) Legal and Policy Developments, (2) Information Control and Manipulation, and (3) Threats Against Critics and Political Opposition.

From a regional perspective, legal and policy developments in countries that are known to restrict human rights are still mainly about using or coming up with new policies to further suppress human rights in the digital sphere. Countries considered to be more democratic also attempt to change or repeal their laws, but still without a clear sign of improvement toward digital rights.

In terms of information control and manipulation, social media platforms continue to be deployed for political ends, with different platforms serving a specific purpose for each country. The shift toward short video format, TikTok in particular, continued from 2022 to contribute toward information disorder, especially during election periods. The use of video shorts is important when targeting young voters, who played an important role in determining election results in Thailand and Indonesia this year like they did in the Philippines and Malaysia in 2022. State-sponsored cyber armies were also documented, while some governments preferred to assert more effective control of social media platforms. Other important methods related to the flow of information include suppression of media freedom and internet disruptions, which are particularly severe in Myanmar following the 2021 coup.

Judicial harassment is a key form of threat used against critics and political opposition in 2023. It is still common for people in Southeast Asia to be thrown in jail for what they say or do online. Others who do not subscribe to the government’s ideology face online harassment from state-sponsored cyber armies or government supporters. In terms of surveillance, 5 out of 8 countries included in this report have been found to have or are likely to have spyware technology.

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2023-Annual-Report-FINAL-1.pdf
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Myanmar Internet Project

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Annual Report: Digital Rights in Southeast Asia 2023-2024

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