Asia Centre AI Hub: Supporting CSOs’ Digital Transformation

Asia Centre AI Hub: Supporting CSOs’ Digital Transformation

Unlike their prominent role in leveraging social media for advocacy in the early 2000s, human rights-based civil society organisations (CSOs) are now sidelined in discussions dominated by governments and technology companies. This exclusion limits their ability to ensure that Artificial Intelligence (AI) serves public interests, especially in areas related to democracy and human rights. To close this gap, Asia Centre has established the AI Hub for CSOs.  Since 2024, Asia Centre has actively contributed to AI-related discourse across the region by engaging in collaborations with UN agencies, international NGOs and technology companies. These efforts include participating in high-level events and hosting…

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Climate Disinformation in Cambodia: Undermining Indigenous People’s Agency

Climate Disinformation in Cambodia: Undermining Indigenous People’s Agency

Forthcoming In Cambodia, the rise of digital media and social platforms since the mid-2010s has intensified a surge in climate disinformation – deeply affecting Indigenous Peoples (IPs), who make up about 3% of the population and live in forests highly vulnerable to climate change and deforestation. This report explores how both online and face-to-face disinformation - often state-aligned – undermines IPs' voices, discredits Indigenous knowledge, and legitimises harmful environmental practices. From false climate solutions to greenwashing and denial of deforestation, these narratives contribute to exclusion, land loss, and the silencing of environmental defenders. The report offers concrete policy recommendations, urging…

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Asia Centre Research Hub: Advancing Evidence-Based Civil Society Research

Asia Centre Research Hub: Advancing Evidence-Based Civil Society Research

In April 2022, Asia Centre launched its Research Hub in Bangkok to consolidate its role as a civil society research institute and publisher of all the Centre’s knowledge products in the Asia-Pacific region. The establishment of the Hub reflects the Centre’s commitment to strengthening its role as a producer of evidence-based knowledge, particularly in the areas of democracy and human rights. The Research Hub focuses on delivering a range of knowledge outputs, including baseline studies, policy briefs, needs assessments, strategic plans, perception studies, programme evaluations and submissions to UN human rights mechanisms, among others. The Research Hub undertakes one-off research…

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Asia Centre Launches Report on Digital Security For High-Risk Users in the Asia-Pacific

Asia Centre Launches Report on Digital Security For High-Risk Users in the Asia-Pacific

On 10 December 2024, the Asia Centre hosted the online launch of its latest report, Digital Security for High-Risk Users in the Asia-Pacific: Needs Assessment Report. The event attracted about 50 participants and featured insights from experts in digital security, citizen participation, and technology. Dr James Gomez, Regional Director of the Asia Centre, delivered the opening remarks, highlighting the crucial importance of digital security for rights defenders. He also addressed the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in human rights advocacy, noting its potential to enhance the digital knowledge and operations of civil society organisations (CSOs).  To this end, he…

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Asia Centre Media Hub: Driving Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Advocacy in the Region 

Asia Centre Media Hub: Driving Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Advocacy in the Region 

Launched in 2018, the Asia Centre Media Hub was established to enhance the visibility of the Centre and its partners’ work by producing and disseminating digital content that highlights their activities and research outputs. As a dedicated media unit, the Media Hub plays a vital role in amplifying the voices of civil society, particularly amid limited mainstream media coverage and an increasingly crowded digital landscape. The Media Hub's wide range of digital content includes podcasts, videos, infographics, and written commentaries, as well as tools that not only support the Asia Centre’s advocacy work but also empower CSOs to promote their…

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Call for Partnership: Asia Centre Digital Security Training Programme 2025 Kicks Off

Call for Partnership: Asia Centre Digital Security Training Programme 2025 Kicks Off

From June 2025 to May 2026, Asia Centre, with the support of Google, will begin its Digital Security Training (DST) programme aimed at mitigating the negative impact of misinformation, digital threats and cybersecurity risks within the Asia-Pacific region.This training programme is designed for high-risk users and digitally vulnerable communities in the Asia Pacific region. The training is targeted at youths, women, government officials, people with disabilities, marginalised communities and community leaders. Under this project, Asia Centre offers two types of training activities:1. End Beneficiaries TrainingInterested organisations that agree to partner with Asia Centre will need to jointly identify a tentative…

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Red-Tagging and Foreign Interference in the Philippines

Red-Tagging and Foreign Interference in the Philippines

In the Philippines context, red-tagging refers to individuals and organisations that are black-listed because they do not fully support the views or actions of the government. Red-tagging consequences may include vilification, surveillance, harassment, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearance, and even killings. Often, the red-tagging rhetoric incorporates the idea of foreign interference and civil society organisations are accused of subverting Filipino society for the benefit of foreign agents. This way, the Philippines government uses national security as the argument to red-tag members of CSOs, journalists, and activists. In this podcast episode, Jonathan De Santos discusses how the Philippines government incorporates the rhetoric…

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Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence in Cambodia: Impact on the Civic Freedoms of Women Journalists and Human Rights Defenders

Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence in Cambodia: Impact on the Civic Freedoms of Women Journalists and Human Rights Defenders

Download Full Report The increasing use of digital platforms for advocacy by women in Cambodia has been accompanied by a rise in technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), a form of harassment perpetrated online. While all women and girls are at risk, those highly visible in the public sphere – such as women human rights defenders (WHRDs), Indigenous advocates, journalists, and civil society leaders – face heightened exposure. Despite its severity, TFGBV remains poorly documented in Cambodia. This report examines TFGBV targeting high-profile women in advocacy and argues that it is an extension of gender-based violence (GBV), sustained by patriarchal structures and…

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Unfiltered Voices, Unstoppable Change: Oxfam Youth Assembly 2025 #Nofilter

Unfiltered Voices, Unstoppable Change: Oxfam Youth Assembly 2025 #Nofilter

IntroductionUnder the theme "#NoFilter: The Asian Youth and Emerging Realities of the 21st Century," the Assembly provided a platform for young leaders to discuss and strategise around pressing social issues, including intersectional inequalities, climate change, civic space restrictions, and digital justice.The 2025 Oxfam Asia Youth Assembly, held on 6-7 March, 2025, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, brought together 47 in-person youth participants from Sri Lanka and 30 virtual attendees from across Asia. Co-organised by Oxfam, Asia Centre, and DevPro, the event marked the culmination of the 2024 Oxfam Asia Young Leaders Fellowship Programme.The event was structured over two days:Day 1 was…

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Shaping Justice: How Media is Transforming Crime Investigations in Thailand

Shaping Justice: How Media is Transforming Crime Investigations in Thailand

Download The article “Shaping Justice: How Media is Transforming Crime Investigations in Thailand” examines how growing public distrust in Thailand’s law enforcement has led media outlets to take on a more prominent role in investigating crime and exposing corruption. As confidence in the police diminishes, the media emerges as a critical platform for whistleblowers, citizen journalists, and independent experts. Yet, while this shift promotes transparency and accountability, it also raises concerns about sensationalism, misinformation and the risk of undermining formal investigative processes.

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