Tackling the Disinformation Ecosystem: System-Based Insights from Southeast Asia

With around 64.3 percent of its 680 million people active on social media, Southeast Asia has evolved into a highly fertile environment for influence operations that erode democratic quality and strain social cohesion. As these operations grow more sophisticated and increasingly enlist ordinary citizens motivated by economic incentives and ideological commitments, fragmented responses prove inadequate. Instead, a system-oriented approach would address not only platform algorithms but also the political, economic, and identity-based interests that sustain and drive influence campaigns.