In late January, Cambodia's Prime Minister, Hun Sen, made a televised statement about the spread of misinformation regarding the COVID-19 virus outbreak originating from Wuhan, China. He also threatened to “kick out” reporters or officials seen wearing a face mask.He said that the real illness was the fear they faced from inaccurate information spreading on social media.
Earlier this year, a Kosovo-born football player, Liridon Krasniqi who plays for Malaysian football club Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) was naturalised and given a Malaysian citizenship. Many observers criticised the decision for granting a fast-tracked citizenship to the popular sportsman as thousands of other stateless people in Malaysia are still undocumented.
In December 2019, Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen dismissed a threat from the European Union (EU) to halt special trade privileges over human rights issues. “I don’t care, if (they) want to do whatever, do it,” Hun Sen said in a speech at a university graduation ceremony in the capital city of Phnom Penh.
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.
Providing accessibility for the disabled is a major determinant for developing countries to qualify as developed nations.
Research has shown that although electric vehicles (EVs) come with their own bag of problems as far as the environment goes, they are still much less harmful than conventional automobiles.ASEAN has made its intentions to move towards EVs known.
As of February, Indonesia is home to more than 272 million people, making it the fourth largest population in the world behind China, India and the United States (US). The nation is expected to hit 300 million people by 2050. The populous country contributes to a domestic workforce surplus.
The notion of repatriation for the 689 Indonesians associated with terrorists and violent-extremist groups in Syria has led to controversy in Indonesia. Public debate is not only divided on whether the government should repatriate them or not, but also whether or not their nationality should be revoked. In responding to that, the Indonesian government has just declared its decision to not repatriate them.
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
The novel coronavirus isn’t the only thing spreading. It was recently reported that authorities in Thailand had arrested two people for posting "fake news" about the novel coronavirus as a senior official warned internet users last Thursday to “think twice” before sharing incorrect information about the disease.
From last year’s church bombings in southern Philippines which killed at least 20 and wounded scores more, to the decades-old persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya population which has seen a mass exodus of 1.2 million people fleeing for their lives, religious freedom isn’t exactly one of ASEAN’s strong points.With 650 million people spread across 10 countries, ASEAN’s diversity has long been one of its defining characteristics.
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.
