PD Dr. Andreas Ufen

Anti-fake news lawfare is deepening government control over civil society, undermining information integrity and civil society’s democratic rights. Patterns to this legal repression and related pushback strategies in South and Southeast Asia are examined, as the forerunners of global developments.

Indonesia’s government strives to confine civic spaces with the help of surveillance, Internet shutdowns, digital attacks, lawfare, as well as online manipulation by so-called buzzers. This is alarming because right-wing populist Prabowo Subianto could win the presidency in 2024.

Mobilizing for Elections is an outstanding study and will be essential reading for all interested in Southeast Asian politics, but also for scholars working generally on subjects such as electoral mobilization, clientelism, patronage, “money politics”, and political parties.

Dr. Andreas Ufen, Wissenschaftler am GIGA Institute for Asian Studies im Interview mit Gabi Kautzmann zu Gastgeberrolle Indonesiens beim G20-Gipfel.

Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific, Online event Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Center for International Studies, SciencesPo Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner (Organiser), Prof. Dr. David Camroux (Organiser), PD Dr. Andreas Ufen (Moderator)

Patrick Köllner co-organised the 23rd Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific webinar "Thailand's Autocracy Complex and Its Indo-Pacific Consequences", featuring Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

Weaponising Fake News Laws, GIGA Berlin Büro, and online event, Berlin Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) PD Dr. Andreas Ufen (Consultant)

This talk presents the latest findings from our research on governments’ use of fake news laws as a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) tactic. This trend has accompanied autocratisation in places such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. In these countries, governments have ridden the global wave of countering disinformation, exploiting existing information laws or passing new ones to censor and criminalise civil society while seeking to control the flow of information digitally. Together with other draconian laws and tools of digital repression such as surveillance and online smear campaigns, fake news laws increase the costs of public participation that could help keep the executive in check. Facing multiple charges, dissidents and journalists are compelled to fight endless court cases, depleting their energy and limited financial resources as well as being a time sink, further to enduring the detrimental psychological effects of this misuse of legal powers. This talk unpacks these mechanisms and proposes counter-responses to weaponising fake news laws.

Faculty of Businesss, Economics and Social Scienes, Universität Hamburg Hamburg Germany

Faculty of Businesss, Economics and Social Scienes, Universität Hamburg Hamburg Germany