While the expansion of Internet access and proliferation of digital technologies has created unprecedented opportunities, it has also brought about online harms such as the accelerated spread of hate speech and provided State and non-State actors with tools for targeting critics and competitors, and to undermine democratic governance. Digital tools have also been used to surveil and harass dissenting voices.

This report draws attention to the many recent laws and regulations governing online space in South-East Asia, several of which appear to reinforce and expand pre-existing restrictions of freedoms of expression, association and privacy.