Report Summary — Foreign Interference Laws in Southeast Asia: Deepening the Shrinkage of Civic Space
Foreign Interference Laws (FILs) have a legitimate use in safeguarding democracy. Authoritarian regimes, however, tend to abuse FILs and employ the rhetoric of ‘foreign interference’ to shrink civic space, control ideas and perpetuate regimes’ status quo. This is the case for Southeast Asia. The threat of international actors calling out Southeast Asian countries’ democratic and human rights lapses by supporting the work of national CSOs is leading to the introduction of FILs to counteract such efforts. In light of this, Asia Centre, in collaboration with Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC), released Foreign Interference Laws in Southeast Asia: Deepening the Shrinkage of Civic Space. The report reviews developments in laws in Southeast Asia that seek to curb the role of international actors and their support for CSOs that work on democracy and human rights issues. FILs are emerging in Southeast Asia as part of a larger move among authoritarian countries to curb the activities of civil society working on democracy and human rights. Chapter 1 ‘Introduction’ of the report examines the rhetoric of ‘foreign interference’ and the global emergence of FILs and characteristics of FILs that are increasingly common in authoritarian countries. Several authoritarian countries in Southeast Asia already have in place laws that restrict the operation of CSOs that work on issues related to democracy and human rights. However, none of these laws explicitly makes most use of the rhetoric of ‘foreign interference’ like Singapore’s Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021. Chapter 2 ‘Foreign Interference Laws in Southeast Asia’ argues that the Act provides a blueprint for Non-Interference Laws that authoritarian regimes in the region are developing. It reviews the existing NGO laws and the ongoing legal developments of FILs in the region. The abuse of the foreign interference provisions and laws have impacted cross-border collaboration and partnership. The impacts are reviewed in Chapter 3 ‘Impact on Cross-border Collaboration and Partnerships.’ They include: shutting down INGOs and NGOs; blocking international funding; engaging in public rebuke of foreign governments, INGOs, CSO and individuals; the shift by international actors to government partnerships; and relocating their offices to other countries and adopting remote working. Overall such measures have led to a shrinking of civic space in Southeast Asia. To mitigate such impacts, Chapter 4 ‘Recommendations’ lists a number of recommendations to pre-emptively counter potential damage of these laws on the existence of cross-border collaboration. It suggests that governments should end unsubstantiated and negative rhetoric of ‘foreign interference’, repeal, amend, or clarify FILs. Additionally, UN human rights mechanisms should seek clarity from member states regarding FILs. INGOs and CSOs should call out transgressions of foreign interference laws and strive to become self-sustainable. Asia Centre’s report Foreign Interference Laws in Southeast Asia: Deepening the Shrinkage of Civic Space was produced in partnership with the Japanese NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC) under the initiative ‘Defending Democracy and Civic Space in Asia’. This project includes partners from across Asia: Asia Centre, Pakistan Development Alliance, Voluntary Action Network India, Centre for Human Rights and Development Mongolia and INHURED International. To read the full report, click. For any inquiries regarding the report and collaboration on research, please contact research@asaicentre.org.
Internet Freedoms in the Asia-Pacific Region are Under Threat
On 14 January 2023, Asia Centre organised the Asia-Pacific Digital Rights Forum in partnership with EngageMedia to discuss the state of internet freedoms in Asia-Pacific and why they are shrinking as a result of legal and non-legal measures taken by governments and non-state actors alike. The forum was attended by 29 people – including participants and speakers – from various sectors, including online media organisations and journalists, lawyers, representatives of INGOs, UNDP representatives, researchers, and members of academic institutions. The forum kicked off with an Asia Centre panel Internet Freedoms in Southeast Asia and Thailand, moderated by Dr Marc Piñol, Research Manager at Asia Centre. The panellists included Asia Centre’s Regional Director Dr James Gomez and Korbkusol Neelapaichit, Researcher at Asia Centre. Dr Gomez pointed to a set of legal and non-legal mechanisms adopted by governments that are undermining internet freedoms in the region and, consequently, are making democracy backtrack in Southeast Asia. He also highlighted how some governments are increasingly using fake news laws to criminalise the actions of political opponents, human rights activists, journalists and media organisations, and how that leads to self-censorship. Focusing on Thailand, Neelapaichit added that the discriminatory measures introduced by Dr Gomez are also being used by non-state actors, such as private companies, to attack human rights defenders, journalists and civil society organisations. Neelapaichit predicted that the use of these measures will persist in 2023, and its impacts will increase. Saittawut Yutthaworakool, a PhD candidate from the Asian Institute of Technology, commented on Dr Gomez and Neelapaichit’s inputs, highlighting the impact that internet laws in Thailand, like the Computer Crime Act, Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) and the non-legal military-led Information Operations (IOs), have on gender. The panel concluded with a fruitful Q&A session that triggered a lively discussion among participants in the session. Following the panel discussion, four short films or ‘tech tales’ produced by EngageMedia in collaboration with filmmakers across the Asia-Pacific were screened. The films touched upon digital rights issues in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand. After the screening, participants joined a regional virtual regional with participants from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Asia Centre’s Research Associate Ekmongkhon Puridej and danah boyd, a partner researcher at Microsoft Research, founder and president of Data & Society Research Institute, visiting scholar at New York University, joined the rapporteurs from the other four countries in sharing the outputs from the session held in Bangkok. They also discussed the future trends of digital authoritarianism in Asia. The event concluded with a networking session for all participants in the forum to exchange their views with one another and expand their networks. Asia Centre is a research institute in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was founded in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2015 and a second office was established in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in 2018. Asia Centre serves as a knowledge partner and undertakes evidence-based research to publish baseline studies and policy toolkits. It also provides training and capacity-building programmes for end beneficiaries such as government officials and universities.
Moving Beyond COVID-19 Restrictions in East Asia: Pushing Back Against Authoritarian Pandemic Governance
Download In East Asia, regional countries have sought two main approaches to managing COVID-19. On the one hand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan adopted anti-COVID-19 measures that aligned with international human rights standards. On the other hand, China, North Korea, Hong Kong’s “Zero-COVID” mechanisms to contain the pandemic were more restrictive, threatening people’s fundamental rights. The policy brief “Moving Beyond COVID-19 Restrictions in East Asia: Pushing Back Against Authoritarian Pandemic Governance” provides an overview of these two approaches and the impact on human rights in East Asia.
Moving Beyond COVID-19 Restrictions in Southeast Asia: Pushing Back Against Authoritarian Pandemic Governance
Download The policy paper “Moving Beyond COVID-19 Restrictions in Southeast Asia: Pushing Back Against Authoritarian Pandemic Governance” explores how the use of powers by Southeast Asian governments during the COVID-19 pandemic derogated rights. Emergency and temporary laws, as well as special provisions in infectious disease laws, impacted fundamental rights beyond what was necessary to keep the virus at bay. Consequently, control over the population was tightened and democracy backtracked. The paper demonstrates that governments used COVID-laws to amass disproportionate power and over-restrict civic freedoms on four ends. First, strict lockdowns were used to stifle freedom of assembly and protest. Second, anti-COVID measures were used by ruling political elites to limit campaigning activities and ensure that the status quo remained unchanged, partially disenfranchising voters from electoral processes. Third, fake-news laws were implemented to contain the spread of false information regarding the pandemic. Still, such laws were also used to silence political dissent. Fourth, online and physical surveillance increased to track the spread of the virus and, more generally, to track people’s actions beyond the essential to ensure public health. Given these developments, this paper includes a set of recommendations directed at governments, international organisations, and civil society organisations to improve governance in the post-pandemic era so that anti-COVID measures do not derogate people’s fundamental rights. Implementing these recommendations can help prevent and push back against the implications of authoritarian pandemic governance in Southeast Asia.
Asia Centre at Indonesia’s Parliamentary Seminar
On 27 January 2023, Dr James Gomez delivered a presentation at the “National Economic Prospects & Preparation for 2024 General Election in Indonesia Amidst Global Uncertainty” seminar hosted by the Parliamentary Expert Agency, Republic of Indonesia for its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stakeholders. Speaking on the topic “Southeast Asia’s Recovery Amidst Global Uncertainties: The Role of Tertiary Institutions”, Dr Gomez reflected on how tertiary institutions in Southeast Asia risk losing their relevance as they face a decline in quality and enrollment in a post-pandemic era today. A shift of approach is needed through active collaboration and innovation across all sectors of society in addressing the fundamental questions, “who contributes to the development of the individual? – Are we looking for an effective member of society or the economy?”. Asia Centre engagement with The Expertise Agency of The House of Representatives of The Republic of Indonesia is based on a 5-year MoU signed on 14 March 2022 to jointly undertake the publishing of research outputs, execute teaching and training programmes, develop course outlines and materials, and support each other to promote joint activities. The MoU was signed following some initial years of engagements between the two organisations. The current Head of Parliamentary Expertise Agency at the Nusantara, Dr Inosentius Samsul S.H, M. Hum, first participated in Asia Centre’s 3rd International Conference on Businesses in Human Rights in 2018 and later in Asia Centre’s 6th and 7th Conferences in 2021-2022 as a panel partner. To read more about the MoU Signing with The Indonesian Parliament’s Expert Agency, please visit the link here.
Asia Centre signs MoU with 5 Thai Universities
On 12 January 2023, Asia Centre and 5 Thai universities including Maejo University, Rajamangala University of Technology Suvarnabhumi, Chulalongkorn University, Prince of Songkla University and Uttaradit Rajabhat University signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their cooperation on ASEAN Digital Literacy Programme and explore opportunities for future collaboration including other joint activities and research outputs. The signing was witnessed by Google’s Asia-Pacific Information Policy Lead, Jean-Jacques Sahel and the Head of Programme at ASEAN Foundation, Mahmudi Yusbi. The MoU was signed following the completion of the first part of ASEAN Digital Literacy Programme which was launched in partnership with ASEAN Foundation and with the support from Google.org since August 2022. In December 2022, the Centre and the 5 university partners successfully held in-person Master Trainer Trainings across Thailand and trained over 120 master trainers of diverse backgrounds on information disorder and tools to combat disinformation. (Details of these in-person Master Trainer Trainings can be accessed in this article on the Centre’s website.) Following the signing of the joint MOU, and to achieve the prorgamme’s objectives, the Centre and the universities will be working closely to deliver media and information literacy training for 8,000 end beneficiaries. With the partner institutions’ expertise, strategic location and strong connection with local communities, the end beneficiaries will comprise not only their undergraduate students and staff but also high school students and vulnerable individuals across the country. A photo album of the signing ceremony is available on Asia Centre’s Facebook Page. If you are interested to collaborate with the Asia Centre or access its expertise in the area of disinformation and media literacy, do send an email to contact@asiacentre.org.
Internet Freedoms in Malaysia: Regulating Online Discourse on Race, Religion, and Royalty
Download Internet Freedoms in Malaysia: Regulating Online Discourse on Race, Religion, and Royalty analyses how Malaysia’s legal provisions impact online discussions of the 3Rs (race, religion and royalty) that question the special position of the Malays, Islam and the Monarchy. The report explains that Malaysia’s restrictive legal provisions inherited from the colonial era and expanded during the six decades of successive UMNO-led BN governments are used to regulate the online discourse of the 3Rs. Following the 2022 general election, Malaysia finds itself at a political crossroads where three different narratives on the 3Rs that this report labels as traditional, progressive, and right-wing are being used by political parties and coalitions to appeal to the Malay-Muslim community for political legitimacy. As it was before the 2022 general election, the report argues that websites will continue to be blocked, online content removed, and individuals and organisations connected to the production and dissemination of content that questions the special position of the Malays, Islam and the Monarchy investigated and prosecuted. Meanwhile, online harassment and hate content will continue to be weaponised by ultranationalist groups against those who hold different views in relation to the 3Rs and are allowed to do so without legal consequences. To improve internet freedoms in the country, this report makes several key recommendations directed at the government, the national human rights institution, parliamentarians, civil society, and technology companies. The implementation of recommendations can help ensure that the 3Rs can be discussed safely without unwarranted censorship and self-censorship in Malaysia.
EU-ASEAN Relations in Light of the War in Ukraine
Download The EU and ASEAN have set to resume negotiations aiming at an inter-regional FTA. However, this process will be undertaken in the context of the geopolitical and geoeconomic situation in the Indo-Pacific. Deep existing issues such as conflicting values also have an impact on the negotiation process. Moreover, the war in Ukraine have increased the need for the EU to have a presence in the region. The policy paper “EU-ASEAN Relations in Light of the War in Ukraine” assesses these issues against both regions’ aim of striking a deal on trade as a foundation for deeper cooperation and develops recommendations for the EU to increase its engagement towards ASEAN and SEA.
Foreign Interference Laws in Southeast Asia: Deepening the Shrinkage of Civic Space
Download Foreign Interference Laws in Southeast Asia: Deepening the Shrinkage of Civic Space reviews developments in laws that seek to curb the role of international actors and their support for CSOs that work on democracy and human rights issues. To set the context, the report examines the rhetoric of ‘foreign interference’, the characteristics of ‘foreign interference laws’ being introduced in both democratic and non-democratic countries and how authoritarian regimes’ use of such laws impacts the operation of both INGOs and national CSOs. Focusing on the emerging trends in Southeast Asia, the report reviews the laws’ in the region and how they impact civic space in terms of shutting down INGOs and NGOs; blocking international funding; engaging in public rebuke of foreign governments, INGOs, CSO and individuals; the shift by international actors to government partnerships; and relocating their offices to other countries and adopting remote working. To address the impact of foreign interference laws on civic space, the report provides a set of recommendations for stakeholders. It includes ending unsubstantiated and negative rhetoric of foreign interference, repealing, amending, or clarifying foreign interference laws. Additionally, UN human rights mechanisms should seek clarity from member states regarding foreign interference laws, and INGOs and CSOs should call transgressions of foreign interference laws and strive to become self-sustainable.
Asia Centre Delivers Digital Literacy to over 100 Master Trainers
In December 2022, Asia Centre successfully delivered 5 training sessions to over 100 Master Trainers in Thailand. The thrust of the training involved helping Thai participants to go beyond click-bait disinformation, recognise other types of disinformation that encompass hate speech, political and state-sponsored fake news and use the appropriate tools (fact-checking, quality journalism, media literacy and ethics) to deal with them. To this end, Asia Centre, in collaboration with ASEAN Foundation and with support from Google.org, formed a consortium with Uttaradit Rajabhat University, Rajamangala University of Technology Suvarnabhumi, Prince of Songkla University, Maejo University, and Chulalongkorn University to deliver the “ASEAN Digital Literacy Programme (ASEANDLP). The Programme is part of a region-wide effort to produce capable trainers who can raise awareness and take action against disinformation and fake news. The first training (see TikTok and Photo Album) kicked off on 9 December 2022 at Uttaradit Rajabhat University in Uttaradit province in northern Thailand, joined by 23 participants that included academic staff of the university, teachers from neighbouring primary and secondary schools, government officers from provincials public health office and Uttaradit Shelter for Children and Families under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and youth leaders. The following week on 12 December 2022, the second training session (see TikTok and Photo Album) was held at Rajamangala University of Technology Suvarnabhumi(RUS) and attended by 24 participants from the institute of research and development, department of student affairs and various faculties, including agricultural, education, engineering and architecture, liberal arts and science and technology. Few were based in Rajamangala University of Technology’s other nearby campuses, such as Wasukri, Suphanburi and Nonthaburi. The overview of the training was also reported in the news section of RUS’ official website. The trainings picked up pace from 20 December when the third training session (see TikTok and Photo Album) was convened by Prince of Songkla University (PSU) (Pattani). Comprised of 18 people, 15 onsite and 3 online participants from Phatthalung and Narathiwat provinces. They included lecturers, primary school teachers and heads of student organisations and heralded largely from PSU’s Faculty of Education and Walailak University. A number of participants were Muslims reflecting the religious demographic of the Thai South. On the next day, on 21 December, the fourth training session with 23 participants (see TikTok and Photo Album) was held at the Central Library of Maejo University (Chiang Mai) and joined by academic staff from the Faculty of Information & Communication, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Fisheries Technology and Aquatic Resources, Faculty of Liberal Arts, and Faculty of Nursing. The training session also attracted academics from Maejo University’s other provincial campuses, such as Maejo University Phrae Campus and Maejo University Chumphon Campus. 22 December was the last MT training session in Thailand, and it was held at Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok) (see TikTok and Photo Album) for 27 participants. Hosted by the Faculty of Communication Arts, apart from its own academic staff, others included participants from other universities and academic institutes in Bangkok and other provinces such as Nakhon Pathom, Nakhon Si Thammarat (Southern Thailand) and Nonthaburi. Rangsit University, Dhurakij Pundit University, Phranakhon Rajabhat University, Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University, Panyapiwat Institute of Management, Thammasat University, Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Mahidol University International College, Ramkhamhaeng University. The training also attracts attendees from the governmental Digital Economy Promotion Agency, media sectors such as the Thai Journalists Association and Thai PBS, and the business sector, especially tech companies. With these on-site training sessions completed, the Master Trainers will move on to deliver training for approximately 100 end beneficiaries each to complete the programme and receive their certificate of completion. An outcome of this consortium approach to delivering the training sessions is that Asia Centre and the five universities will sign a joint MoU on 12 January 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand. The aim is to explore further partnerships to undertake joint media literacy and other related activities. If you are interested to collaborate with the Asia Centre or access its expertise in the area of disinformation and media literacy, do email contact@asiacentre.org