Regarding the Philippines, policymakers have been working to regulate disinformation— an effort that carried over from the previous year but intensified in 2025, when a committee was established specifically to examine the issue. However, the move has raised concerns about free speech, as it may leave the law open to abuse by criminalizing critical narratives under the guise of combating disinformation. The Philippines also held midterm elections in 2025, which saw a surge in AI-generated disinformation and propaganda. These false narratives were largely in favor of the Duterte family, following the March 2025 arrest of Rodrigo Duterte and the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, a process that began in 2024. In Singapore, ahead of the 2025 general election (GE2025), digital tactics targeting the opposition have become increasingly sophisticated. While the repressive Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) was used directly by the government against opposition figures in the previous election in 2020, the tactics observed in GE2025 appear more indirect in their links to the government or the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). Although POFMA played a more limited role during GE2025 itself, the law continued to be used throughout 2025 to crack down on free speech by activists and independent media. In Thailand, a key concern is military-affiliated information operations (IO), which have become increasingly sophisticated. Leaked documents presented by the opposition party in March 2025 show that the operations are coordinated, involving all branches of the military and the police. The documents also revealed a list of individuals targeted by the operations. The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand confirmed that the documents are authentic and condemned the operations as a violation of human rights. In a separate development, a lawsuit filed in 2021 against the Royal Thai Army by three activists—who alleged that the military conducted the operations that harassed them on their social media accounts—was concluded in 2025. The court’s ruling also confirmed the existence of the operations. Regarding Vietnam, the Tô Lâm administration has significantly expanded the powers of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), which functions as the national police force. As part of a broader streamlining process, during which major reforms have taken place across successive administrations, Tô Lâm’s government has tightened control over the digital space, with the MPS serving as the main agency enforcing this control. These developments have put all aspects of digital rights in Vietnam at risk. As part of its information control efforts, the government also launched programs in 2025 to incentivize online influencers to promote messages favorable to the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). Surveillance efforts in the country have likewise intensified, raising concerns that Vietnam could become a surveillance state through the “Digital Citizens” initiative, under which citizens are rated based on their online behavior. 9