Category Archives: media

IFEX Asia brief: July, August, September 2024

By admin | June 20, 2025

July 2024. Student protests, post-election reforms, impunity, and journalists on strike in Asia-Pacific. Protests turned deadly in Bangladesh, a list of concrete measures to uphold free speech in India, media killings in Pakistan, and journalists declared a strike in Australia. August 2024. South Asia in focus: Youth-led uprising, women’s rights crisis, and internet disruption. It […]

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Banning Joma Sison on social media sets a dangerous precedent

By admin | April 27, 2025

Published by Bulatlat The repeated removal of Jose Maria Sison’s social media accounts is another example of the tech industry’s complicit role in enabling censorship at the behest of authoritarian regimes. Sison is now banned on Facebook. Keywords linked to his name and the groups he founded are flagged and arbitrarily used as a basis […]

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IFEX Asia brief: April, May, June 2024

By admin | April 1, 2025

April 2024. Journalists who ‘crossed the line’, digital repression, blasphemy prosecutions, and marriage equality bill. India goes to the polls amid continuing media harassment and content blocking. China’s repressive model of media and internet governance is increasingly being imposed in the region. A worsening rise in blasphemy prosecutions in Pakistan. Good news: Thailand parliament passes […]

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IFEX Asia briefs: January, February, March 2024

By admin | February 1, 2025

What’s new and old in 2024: Repressive laws, attacks, and election disinformation in Asia. New media laws in India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal could negatively impact access to information. Afghanistan’s media situation remains precarious amid intensified state-backed attacks. Filmmakers in Myanmar and Malaysia face criminal charges. As political forces resort to restrictions and disinformation in […]

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Looking ahead: Censorship, AI, disinformation, and repression undermining elections

By admin | November 30, 2024

Written for IFEX Internet restrictions, AI-driven disinformation, and mass arrests have intensified ahead of major elections across Asia. These attacks undermine freedom of expression at a time when elections are supposed to restore or strengthen democratic rule and counter authoritarianism in the region. A key takeaway from Asia’s election experience is the need to revisit […]

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IFEX Asia brief: October and November 2023

By admin | October 31, 2024

October 2023: Elusive justice: Combatting election disinformation and impunity; journalists freed in China and Afghanistan. As the world prepares to mark another International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, on 2 November, the fight against impunity continues in the Philippines and Pakistan. Cheng Lei returns home to Australia, Mortaza Behboudi walks free in […]

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Duterte’s Ironic Free Speech Advocacy in the Philippines

By admin | September 29, 2024

Written for The Diplomat Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned against the deterioration of freedom of expression under the government of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. After a planned rally was canceled in Tacloban City on May 25, Duterte issued a public statement blaming “the forces of darkness that threaten not only our rights to […]

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IFEX Asia brief: July, August, September 2023

By admin | June 24, 2024

July 2023: Journalists and activists from China and Pakistan targeted by transnational repression, prolonged internet shutdown in Manipur hides extent of communal violence, Cambodia blocked websites after disqualifying the opposition, and defiant Afghan women protested against repressive Taliban policies. Read more August 2023. Taliban marks its second year in power amid worsening repression targeting women […]

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IFEX Asia brief: April, May, June 2023

By admin | April 13, 2024

April 2023. Fiji’s media victory, Vietnam’s “Kafkaesque trial”, and World Press Freedom Day in the Asia-Pacific: A historic win for the media in Fiji, a “Kafkaesque trial” in Vietnam, a Taiwanese publisher detained in China, a new law threatens free speech in India, and IFEX members across Asia-Pacific mark World Press Freedom Day. Read more […]

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IFEX Regional Brief: January, February, March 2023

By admin | March 8, 2024

New Year: A cruel carousel in Myanmar, Ressa’s acquittal “in the upside down”, a quiet crackdown in China, and censored videos. A tax court acquitted journalist Maria Ressa, China has quietly launched a crackdown on anti-lockdown protesters, India ordered YouTube and Twitter to block a BBC documentary, and Fiji’s new government has promised to restore […]

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