Freedom House

Myanmar Shutdown Marks Grim Year For Web Freedom

Internet users in a record number of countries have faced arrest and physical attacks for their posts over the past year, a report said on Tuesday, painting a grim picture of digital freedoms in 2021.The annual "Freedom on the Net" report said internet shutdowns in Myanmar and Belarus had proved particular low points as online rights declined globally for the 11th year in a row.Compiled by United States (US) think-tank Freedom House, the survey gives countries a score out of 100 for

21 September 2021
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ASEAN governments want data localisation laws

The dangers of corporations owning large amounts of personal data have been heavily debated in recent years with no real solution to the issue.Data has been branded the new currency in the world.

4 March 2020
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Misinformation laws on the rise in ASEAN

Singapore’s newly passed misinformation law has been grabbing headlines because it empowers government officials to order corrections to be placed next to social media and online posts they deem false. The law came into effect in October 2019, resulting in outrage from human rights groups and tech giants such as Facebook and Google, which claim that the law is in violation of free speech. A number of opposition figures and activists have already been ordered to place correct

10 February 2020
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Internet surveillance and censorship in ASEAN

An analysis of 65 countries has found that only 20 percent of the world's internet users enjoy "free" access according to international watchdog organisation, Freedom House. The remaining 32 percent are "partly free" and 35 percent are "not free", while 13 percent of users have yet to be assessed. The declining freedom of the internet in ASEAN highlights some serious concerns for its citizens in terms of privacy and ownership of data.

27 January 2020
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Internet shutdowns could cost ASEAN dearly

The ASEAN Post recently ran a story on the world’s longest internet shutdown in the northern part of Rakhine State in Myanmar and the concept of digital rights as a legitimate human right.

14 January 2020
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Has “Journalism” Become A Luxury?

Recently, on 28 November, Swedish veteran journalist and author Bertil Lintner warned a forum in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, that the rampant misinformation being spread on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter was having a negative effect on journalism in Myanmar, India and the region.Linter was speaking about the media at the two-day Kolkata Colloquium 2019 organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) under the title “Reimagining BIMSTEC”.The veteran journalist spoke o

1 December 2019
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Of Singapore and Lao

Recently The ASEAN Post published two articles on Save the Children’s Global Childhood Report 2019. One talked about how Singapore, for the second year in a row, managed to grab the number one spot for providing a safe and nurturing environment for children. The other article was about how Lao not only performed the worst in the region on that front, but also performed badly worldwide.

10 June 2019
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Cybercrime laws and conflicts of interest

Cambodia has witnessed strong growth in terms of its internet penetration rates. In July, Telecommunication Regulator Cambodia spokesperson Im Vutha said the total number of internet users as of the end of June had reached 12 million, up from 10.8 million in December. The number pushes the Kingdom closer to its 2020 goal where the government expects that 100 percent of the urban dwellers and 80 percent of rural dwellers will have access to the internet.

19 September 2018
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Growing concerns for Internet freedom in Southeast Asia

 University of Oxford published a study last year titled “Troops, Trolls and Troublemakers: A Global Inventory of Organised Social Media Manipulation” which highlighted “cyber troops” that governments or political parties would use to manipulate public opinion over social media. One of the countries that was included in the study was the Philippines.

28 February 2018
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