Attacks targeted at female journalists remain a threat to freedom of expression in the region, hence more should be done to mitigate and eliminate this threat.  This was the key idea that emerged from speakers of the panel session: “STOP: Crimes against Female Journalists” convened by Asia Centre and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom East and Southeast Asia on 2nd November 2022. The hybrid event attracted over 15 onsite and 10 online participants and was convened in partnership with Engage Media and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy to commemorate the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. Recording of…

1.Background  In order to mitigate the negative impact of disinformation in the ASEAN member states, the ASEAN Foundation, with the support of Google, is rolling out the “ASEAN Digital Literacy Programme” to build resilience against misinformation and disinformation for communities in the region. To this end, Asia Centre, a research institute in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (UN ECOSOC), was appointed by the ASEAN Foundation to implement the training program for Youth, Teachers, Parents, Elderly, Government Officials, People with Disability and Community Leaders. 2. Project Objectives Asia Centre will work with local…

Asia Centre, with support of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (Thailand) and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy held a consultation session with the Office of National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) (Southern Region) to explore collaboration on human rights issues in the southern region during a visit to Songkhla province between 25 - 26 October 2022. The consultation was held on 26 October 2022 at the NHRCT regional office in Songkhla. The NHRCT began with welcome remarks and background to the office’s establishment in March 2022. Its main mandates cover administration,  the protection as well as the promotion and monitoring of human rights situations.…

In 2022, Asia Centre and Google collaborated on a range of projects to combat disinformation. These included co-convening a panel titled “Rights-Friendly Content Regulation in APAC” for the Centre’s 7th International Conference on Freedom of Expression in Asia, a baseline study titled Youth and Disinformation in Malaysia: Strengthening Electoral Integrity and its launch in Kuala Lumpur, a presentation on its key findings at the 2022 APAC Trusted Media Summit on 20-21 September in Singapore and the implementation of media information literacy training in Malaysia and Thailand. Below are the key highlights:On 25 August 2022, in partnership with Asia Centre, Google…

On 8 September 2022, Asia Centre and Faculty of Social Sciences & Leisure Management, Taylor's University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This MoU was signed just prior to the launch of the Asia Centre and Google report titled “Youth and Disinformation in Malaysia: Strengthening Electoral Integrity” hosted by the School of Media and Communications at Lecture 21 on the Lakeside Campus of  Taylor’s University. You can read the report launch article here. The MoU ceremony and signing was conducted onsite at Taylor’s University and attended by faculty representatives.  Dr Neethiahnanthan A/L M Ari Ragavan, Executive Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences…

Asia Centre’s Dr. Robin Ramcharan carried forward the Centre’s ongoing global exploration for collaborations and partnerships, this time in Canada, during the months of July and August 2022. This follows similar outreach undertaken over the past five years in Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, France, India, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United States and New Zealand. In the course of his outreach, as Canada considers the development of a foreign policy strategy for the Indo-Pacific area, he spoke at the Royal Military College of Canada on regional governance matters in Asia, at the invitation of Associate Professor Ali Dizboni.Intimately involved in the discussion on…