Brainstorming Workshop on ‘Anti-Fake News Laws in South and Southeast Asia’
Andreas Ufen / Sangeeta Mahapatra / Janjira Sombatpoonsiri
Brainstorming Workshop on ‘Anti-Fake News Laws in South and Southeast Asia’
Lecture | 25/09/2023 - 26/09/2023
The GIGA researchers, Dr. Andreas Ufen, Dr. Sangeeta Mahapatra, and Dr. Janjira Sombatpoonsiri, along with their local partner in Indonesia, SAFEnet, conducted an international knowledge-sharing and capacity-building workshop in Bali, Indonesia, on ‘Strengthening Civil Society Against Disinformation and the Weaponized Use of Anti-Fake News Laws’ from 25-26 September 2023.
The intensive workshop brought together 18 participants including researchers, journalists, fact-checkers, lawyers, and rights activists from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. During this workshop, research participants shared their first-hand experience in dealing with the twin challenges of disinformation and the weaponised use of anti-fake news laws. The workshop deepened the participants’ understanding of existing anti-fake news laws in the six countries and cross-country trends on their autocratic use against civil society actors like journalists, academics, and activists. The workshop also aimed at facilitating collaborative networks among civic actors involved in countering disinformation and cross-country policies against the use of anti-fake news laws as a tool of legal and digital repression and ensuring information integrity, especially in poll-bound countries that face disinformation-at-scale.
Event
Brainstorming Workshop on ‘Anti-Fake News Laws in South and Southeast Asia’
At this workshop, participants discussed patterns and trends of anti-fake news laws, digital/social media platforms and anti-fake news measures, ways of regulating mis/disinformation, and civil society pushback strategies.
Governments in autocratic and autocratizing contexts may use anti-fake news laws to discredit critical civil society actors as agents of “disinformation” and punish them. Through comparative and cross-learning insights derived from field studies, we seek to map civil society responses against the autocratic use of disinformation laws and strengthen policies for right to information and freedom of speech and expression. NED, 2023-2025
In an age of proliferating disinformation, governments in South and Southeast Asia have come out with anti-fake news laws. However, the “weaponization" of such laws can lead governments to control online platforms and censor critics. Our project examines the patterns and processes of the weaponization of such laws against civic actors and countermeasures by the latter. We aim for academic and policy outcomes to improve disinformation regulation while safeguarding digital rights. Luminate, 2023-2024
The interactive sessions of this workshop focused on knowledge sharing, discussions on cross-regional trends and collaboration, and strategies for countering anti-fake news lawfare.
At this workshop, participants discussed patterns and trends of anti-fake news laws, digital/social media platforms and anti-fake news measures, ways of regulating mis/disinformation, and civil society pushback strategies.
Governments in autocratic and autocratizing contexts may use anti-fake news laws to discredit critical civil society actors as agents of “disinformation” and punish them. Through comparative and cross-learning insights derived from field studies, we seek to map civil society responses against the autocratic use of disinformation laws and strengthen policies for right to information and freedom of speech and expression. NED, 2023-2025
In an age of proliferating disinformation, governments in South and Southeast Asia have come out with anti-fake news laws. However, the “weaponization" of such laws can lead governments to control online platforms and censor critics. Our project examines the patterns and processes of the weaponization of such laws against civic actors and countermeasures by the latter. We aim for academic and policy outcomes to improve disinformation regulation while safeguarding digital rights. Luminate, 2023-2024
The interactive sessions of this workshop focused on knowledge sharing, discussions on cross-regional trends and collaboration, and strategies for countering anti-fake news lawfare.
At this workshop, participants discussed patterns and trends of anti-fake news laws, digital/social media platforms and anti-fake news measures, ways of regulating mis/disinformation, and civil society pushback strategies.
Governments in autocratic and autocratizing contexts may use anti-fake news laws to discredit critical civil society actors as agents of “disinformation” and punish them. Through comparative and cross-learning insights derived from field studies, we seek to map civil society responses against the autocratic use of disinformation laws and strengthen policies for right to information and freedom of speech and expression. NED, 2023-2025
In an age of proliferating disinformation, governments in South and Southeast Asia have come out with anti-fake news laws. However, the “weaponization" of such laws can lead governments to control online platforms and censor critics. Our project examines the patterns and processes of the weaponization of such laws against civic actors and countermeasures by the latter. We aim for academic and policy outcomes to improve disinformation regulation while safeguarding digital rights. Luminate, 2023-2024
