April was, by all accounts, a cruel month for the residents of Shanghai.As an Omicron-induced outbreak of COVID-19 swept across China’s biggest city, millions of people were confined to their homes.

The author of a viral video about Shanghai’s COVID-19 lockdown that sparked a rare show of defiance on China’s social media has urged users to stop sharing it, saying he is worried about his work being taken in directions he did not wish to see.The creator, who goes by his online moniker Strawberry Fields Forever, said in a post on Saturday that the quick spread of the video, titled, “Voices of April”, was “unexpected” to him, and he was “touched” by messages received from fellow internet use

The cause of China's deadliest air crash in decades remains a mystery, with authorities giving few details in a preliminary report on Wednesday while enforcing strict censorship one month after the disaster.In the immediate aftermath of the crash, China's ruling Communist Party moved quickly to control information, revving up its censorship machine as media outlets and local residents raced to the crash site.It has maintained its tight grip over the narrative, with the preliminary p

China has sought to keep a diplomatic distance from the war in Ukraine, choosing to abstain in a United Nations (UN) vote condemning Russia's invasion.It is also making concerted efforts to stifle strong views about the conflict on Chinese social-media platforms.It's a fine line to tread.

A China-style internet gateway scheduled to be imposed in Cambodia this week would grant the government far greater powers to conduct mass surveillance, censor and control the country’s internet, rights groups have warned.Human rights experts and media advocates fear the gateway could be a step towards the kind of censorship enforced through China’s Great Firewall – though some question what technical capacity Cambodia’s systems currently have, and say the process has lacked transparency.Unde

China's #MeToo movement has stumbled in the face of swift internet censors, a patriarchal society and a legal system that places a heavy burden on the claimant.Explosive claims this month by tennis star Peng Shuai that a former top Communist Party politician had sexually assaulted her marked the first time allegations have hit the top layer of government.But her accusations were swiftly scrubbed from the Chinese internet, and she has not been seen publicly since.Others have faced the sam

Although countries like Israel, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) have done particularly well getting COVID-19 vaccines into arms as fast as possible, vaccine hesitancy remains a serious hurdle. In the US, it has already derailed President Joe Biden’s goal of administering at least one vaccine dose to 70 percent of the US population by 4 July.  In a CNN poll in April, about 26 percent of US respondents said they do not intend to get vaccinated at all.

Thailand's cabinet has granted Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha sweeping new powers aimed at curbing COVID-19 that critics fear could be used as a political tool to suppress dissent.The country is struggling to contain a third wave that has seen a jump of more than 32,000 cases since an outbreak was detected in the capital's nightlife district.Mandatory mask-wearing and restrictions on daily life have done little to slow the rising death toll, with Prayut's leadership coming in for cr

Vietnam faced criticism Wednesday from the United States (US) and rights groups after jailing three pro-democracy bloggers weeks ahead of the communist government's party congress.The run-up to a leadership transition later this month is a particularly tense period for the state as candidates jostle for power behind closed doors.In recent months, the authoritarian regime has stepped up its crackdown on dissent and has arrested numerous critics.At a quick trial Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City

Facebook and Google are fast becoming "human rights-free zones" in Vietnam, Amnesty International warned Tuesday, accusing the tech titans of helping censor peaceful dissent and political expression in the country.Communist Vietnam has long jailed its critics but has come under fire in recent years for targeting users on Facebook, a popular forum for activists in the country where all independent media is banned.The social network admitted earlier this year that it was blocking cont