"Weaponising the law against free expression", 13 July 2022

Repressive governments have long resorted to arbitrary and underhanded tactics to eliminate opposition, silence criticism and retain power, but these acts of oppression have recently become increasingly sophisticated across Southeast Asia...

Free speech recession across Southeast Asia is reflected in the 2022 Global Expression Report (GxR) issued by ARTICLE 19... Asia-Pacific scored as the second most In Crisis region, the lowest possible category, surpassed only by the Middle East and North Africa region. Many of the largest declines in expression were localised in Southeast Asia. Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam scored the lowest among Southeast Asian countries...

Across the region there is also a growing trend in laws designed to govern the digital space, which is being weaponised to corrode freedom of expression online through legislation...

Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are ... on the rise and has made Southeast Asia, one of the world’s most active regions for legal harassment, according to research by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre...

Across Southeast Asia, governments are inequitably employing laws lacking transparency to deflect criticism and evade accountability...