"Section 2 of this report provides an overview of information disorder in Asia and the Pacific and describes how it destabilizes democracy and strengthens authoritarianism. After situating information disorder in Asia and the Pacific in its historical context, Section 2 examines which actors 1) spre
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ad what narratives 2); the causes; 3) why disinformation is spread and why it does spread; 4) the tools used to manipulate and disseminate information; and 5) what impact information disorder has on democracy in Asia and the Pacific. Section 3 presents the four country case studies [Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Thailand], which examine information disorder in depth in a specific country context along the five dimensions listed above. A brief cross-country analysis identifies similarities and differences in information disorder among the case studies and examines whether they are indicative of trends beyond a national context. Section 4 identifies mitigation strategies that contain and counter the manipulation of information for political ends and critically examines their feasibility for the context of Asia and the Pacific. The aim of this section is to identify areas of engagement for future USAID projects on information disorder." (Methodology, page 10-11)
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"This Situation Report on the “Impact of COVID-19 on Media Freedom, Media Business Viability, and the Safety of Journalists in Southeast Asia” offers an insight into the key impacts of the pandemic on the media across nine countries. The report proposes recommendations for enabling sustainable a
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nd effective media standards to improve media freedom and the safety of journalists. It also explores potential solutions, and innovations for media business viability in the region. The publication comes at a time when news organisations have been forced to accelerate their move to providing more extensive digital services due to various lockdown restrictions, with some not having the resources to make this transition successfully. These additional financial pressures caused by COVID-19 are happening against a backdrop of broader threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists. Another challenge facing media freedom in the region is the introduction of laws purporting to combat the spread of disinformation and misinformation. While such laws have been introduced under the guise of protecting the public, they are more often used as tools to limit the ability of journalists to hold power to account. As countries geared up to fight COVID-19, a crackdown on independent journalism and critical reporting ensued. Many news outlets and media workers, notably journalists, have faced unprecedented risks to their physical and mental well-being, amid unrelenting, and intensified crackdowns on media freedom. Creating a safe and enabling environment for media and journalists to be able to work independently is a prerequisite for democracies to flourish. The issues pertaining to the safety of journalists and media sustainability during a time of crisis such as COVID-19, require attention from all stakeholders, including both state and non-state actors." (Summary, page 115)
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"This book reflects on the role of social media in the past two decades in Southeast Asia. It traces the emergence of social media discourse in Southeast Asia, and its potential as a "liberation technology" in both democratizing and authoritarian states. It explains the growing decline in internet f
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reedom and increasingly repressive and manipulative use of social media tools by governments, and argues that social media is now an essential platform for control. The contributors detail the increasing role of "disinformation" and "fake news" production in Southeast Asia, and how national governments are creating laws which attempt to address this trend, but which often exacerbate the situation of state control. From Grassroots Activism to Disinformation explores three main questions: How did social media begin as a vibrant space for grassroots activism to becoming a tool for disinformation? Who were the main actors in this transition: governments, citizens or the platforms themselves? Can reformists "reclaim" the digital public sphere? And if so, how?" (Publisher description)
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"This year's report reveals new insights about digital news consumption based on a YouGov survey of over 92,000 online news consumers in 46 markets including India, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Colombia and Peru for the first time. The report looks at the impact of coronavirus on news consumption a
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nd on the economic prospects for publishers. It looks at progress on new paid online business models, trust and misinformation, local news, impartiality and fairness in news coverage." (Overview)
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"This report provides an overview of the innovation capacity of the Asia-Pacific region through ICT-centric innovation activity and offers an insight to how good practice can strengthen Member State capacity to integrate ICT innovation into development agendas.
Although the Asia-Pacific region has a
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strong tradition of innovation, there is room for improvement, for example, some countries have healthy innovative ecosystems that perform well in some elements of the ecosystem but need further support in others to develop a thriving digital innovation ecosystem.
This report uses international indices to monitor the current state of innovation ecosystem performance, aspects of growth, gaps, and discrepancies. The information from these major indices has been analysed to create an ICT-centric innovation performance monitor that provides a comparative assessment of the innovation ecosystems both within and among countries in the region and a threshold for action by decision-makers.
There are many good practices in the region. Each practice presented in this report has been assessed according to three engines of growth (innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology) and the current state of the seven enablers of digital transformation. In addition, the ecosystem maturity map helps to assess stakeholder levels of engagement, for example where the first stage of the journey for entrepreneurs is entrepreneurial interest, and for the public sector it is having a vision and developing a strategy. These monitoring tools enable stakeholders to visualize the maturity of the ICT-centric innovation ecosystem and identify practices to keep, those that must be improved, and those to be replaced." (Introduction)
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"In the rapidly changing news ecosystems of emerging economies, news outlets are struggling to remain relevant and build loyal relationships with youth audiences (18 to 35 years old). As youth populations continue to grow in low-and-middle income countries, it is critical for independent media organ
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izations to understand and respond to the changing news habits of younger generations. A snapshot of youth news consumption habits in Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Thailand highlights that the predominance of smartphones, and increasing access to the internet and social media, is fundamentally altering how youth access, interact with, and value independent news. Youth audiences tend to access news through their smartphone, relying more on social media algorithms and news aggregators than loyalty to particular news brands. Youth generally do not feel that the traditional, mainstream news media reports on issues that are important to them, preferring to access a wider variety of news alongside other kinds of information and entertainment. Despite relying on social media for news, youth are wary about whether the information they see on the internet is true. There is a tension between the convenience social media provides for accessing news and its propensity to amplify misinformation and increase political polarization." (Key findings)
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"This study is a snapshot of children’s use of social media in East Asia, focusing on four countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The research incorporates the experiences of 301 children across the four countries, including 121 street children and refugees, collected through a ser
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ies of focus group discussions and participatory exercises. The qualitative data collected was supplemented by a confidential anonymous self-administered 20-item questionnaire completed at the end of the focus group discussions. While more is arguably known about how children in middle- and high-income families use social media, those from lower income families, marginalized children, children with disabilities, street children and refugee children are often excluded from conversations on their use of social media and online safety. This study explicitly attempted to include the voices of children from these populations. These were supplemented by discussions with parents, grandparents, caregivers and frontline workers including social workers, counsellors, child psychiatrists and educators." (Introduction)
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"One year into the premiership of Gen Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Thailand’s elected government is showing no signs of loosening its grip on freedom of expression online. Rather than breaking with the established pattern of criminalizing content critical of the authorities, the government is continuing to
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prosecute people simply for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression online and harassing and intimidating online users. Since the elections of March 2019, the authorities have continued to file criminal charges against individuals who find fault with their performance—whether they criticize the police, the military or the Election Commission of Thailand. People scrutinizing the activities of these government bodies and calling for justice are facing years in prison and huge fines. In many cases the government has targeted well-known figures with criminal charges to send a message to other online users that it will brook no dissent. This strategy aims to create a climate of fear in order to suppress the posting and sharing of content deemed “false information” about the performance of the government. One activist told Amnesty International: “That’s part of their strategy—we call it ‘lawfare,’ and it works. It works really well.” Following the outbreak of COVID-19, Gen Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s decision to declare a state of emergency in March 2020 marked a dramatic increase in the Thai government’s restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Authorities wasted no time in invoking the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation (2005) – empowering public officials both to censor communications related to COVID-19 that are “false” or might instigate fear among the public. In a 24 March 2020 press conference, Prime Minister Prayut warned of prosecutions for “abuse of social media,” deepening concerns that authorities may file lawsuits against individuals for criticizing the Thai government’s response to the virus." (Executive summary)
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"This collection charts the emergence of modern science communication across the world. This is the first volume to map investment around the globe in science centres, university courses and research, publications and conferences as well as tell the national stories of science communication. How did
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it all begin? How has development varied from one country to another? What motivated governments, institutions and people to see science communication as an answer to questions of the social place of science? Communicating Science describes the pathways followed by 39 different countries. All continents and many cultures are represented. For some countries, this is the first time that their science communication story has been told." (Publisher description)
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"Political divisions, the economic downturn after 2006, and technological disruptions have enabled Thai authorities to limit public space for political discussion and expression. People in Thailand have turned to social media instead. At present, the hashtag (#) is a growing tool for all kinds of po
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litical expression, intruding even into the taboo issue of the monarchy. Facebook, YouTube, Line and Twitter are popular platforms for netizens to publicize their political views. Authorities under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha have moved aggressively to put restrictions on these channels. Netizens in the country are now seeking new platforms for political expression." (Executive summary)
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"In this report, we’ve analysed samples of Twitter data relating to the online manifestation of contemporary political protests in Thailand. We’ve sought to explore key ways in which the online manifestation of the protests differs from its offline counterpart. That includes how power dynamics o
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perate differently in online spaces, where institutional actors such as the government wield power through censorship measures, repressive laws and coordinated information operations and where protesters can use the weight of numbers to push back and fight for their democratic rights. We’ve also explored how the international range of actors engaging in the protests online shapes the evolution of both solidarity and conspiracy theories." (Abstract)
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"This study examines the social consequences of an ethnic migrant community radio station, Map Radio FM 99, to explore its role for the Shan migrant community in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Fieldwork was conducted for seven weeks between December 2015 and January 2016 to collect data using semi-structured
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interviews, participant observation and relevant documents. Employing a qualitative approach, this study found that participation in community radio helps participants be socially active in Thai society by maximising their participation in the social sphere using media. This study concludes that participation in Map Radio enables the Shan migrant community to better adapt to Thai society by providing and obtaining information necessary for their lives in Thailand and by contributing to the formation of a collective identity as ethnic migrant workers, thereby creating community cohesion. Nonetheless, lack of political efficacy as a result of the challenging political environment in Thailand might partly prevent Map Radio from functioning completely as an alternative public sphere." (Abstract)
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"With e-learning technologies evolving and expanding at high rates, organizations and institutions around the world are integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other open educational resources (OERs). MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South explores the initiatives that are leveragi
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ng these flexible systems to educate, train, and empower populations previously denied access to such opportunities. Featuring contributors leading efforts in rapidly changing nations and regions, this wide-ranging collection grapples with accreditation, credentialing, quality standards, innovative assessment, learner motivation and attrition, and numerous other issues. The provocative narratives curated in this volume demonstrate how MOOCs and OER can be effectively designed and implemented in vastly different ways in particular settings, as detailed by experts from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific/Oceania, and the Caribbean. This comprehensive text is an essential resource for policy makers, instructional designers, practitioners, administrators, and other MOOC and OER community stakeholders." (Publisher description)
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"This Information Ecosystem Assessment includes the thoughts and opinions of 48 migrant community leaders and migrant workers in Thailand. The information was collected through a series of qualitative and quantitative techniques, using remote data collection methodologies to ensure the safety of par
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ticipants and researchers and compliance with global and Thai specific restrictions on movement and gathering. Key findings: Information on labor rights and immigration status is not widely available and contributes to increased anxiety, and exploitation of migrants by employers. Risk communication during the pandemic readily conveys how to prevent spread and how to identify symptoms, but most migrants are more concerned about the economic impact of the crisis, and the impact on their legal work and immigration status. Migrants with a low comprehension of Thai language are dependent on community leaders, NGOs and secondhand information delivered through informal networks. Migrants called for government and media to share more information relevant to them in their primary language or to use more simplified Thai terminology when sharing health information and explaining government restrictions in relation to COVID-19." (Executive summary)
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"When comparing media freedom in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand, so-called “fake news” appears as threats to a deliberative (online) public sphere in these three diverse contexts. However, “racist propaganda”, “information operations” and “negative campaigning” might be more accurat
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e terms that explain these forms of systematic manipulative political communication. The three cases show forms of disinformation in under-researched contexts and thereby expand the often Western focused discourses on hate speech and fake news. Additionally, the analysis shows that harmful disinformation disseminated online originates from differing contextual trajectories and is not an “online phenomenon”. Drawing on an analysis of connotative context factors, this explorative comparative study enables an understanding of different forms of harmful disinformation in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. The connotative context factors were inductively inferred from 32 expert interviews providing explanations for the formation of political communication (control) mechanisms." (Abstract)
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"Focusing on the period between the 2014 coup and flawed elections in March 2019, “To Speak Out is Dangerous” draws on interviews with individuals prosecuted for exercising their rights to speech or assembly, lawyers, journalists, students, and activists, and examination of police charge sheets,
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court documents, news reports, and official statements. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the overly broad and vaguely worded laws that the Thai government has most frequently used to violate internationally protected rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Human Rights Watch calls on the Thai government to stop using criminal laws against peaceful speech and protest; repeal all remaining NCPO orders restricting basic rights; and bring Thailand’s laws, policies, and practices into conformity with international human rights law and standards for the protection of freedom of expression, association, and assembly." (Back cover)
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