by Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
IN APRIL 2018, during its last Parliamentary sitting as Government, the Barisan Nasional rushed through a law designed, according to its supporters, to curb the spread of “fake news:” the Anti-Fake News Act. As initially presented to Parliament, the bill encompassed anyone, Malaysian or non-Malaysian, who discussed Malaysia at home or abroad. Those found guilty […]
by Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
SHORTLY AFTER Malaysia’s historic 9 May 2018 elections, a new feeling of freedom had swept across the country, and even the most jaded of journalists were giddy with excitement. The poll results, after all, had brought the first change of government in the country since Independence in 1957. The previous administration had also increasingly tightened […]
by Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
IN DECEMBER 2018, Myanmar’s Minister for Information Pe Myint gave lie to global reports that offered a grim prognosis of press freedom in the former pariah state.Speaking before an audience of journalists, dignitaries, and civil-society representatives, he said that press-freedom indexes are biased and that the freedom- and rights-ranking mechanisms of international organizations are not […]
by Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
IT HAS just a little more than a year before its five-year term ends, but Myanmar’s ruling National League of Democracy (NLD) still has a lot of promises left unfulfilled. Among these are reforming the country’s media and ensuring freedom of the press and freedom of expression – but no one now believes NLD will […]
by Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
WITH STILL no new government as of early May 2019, free speech in Thailand continues to be restricted by special laws imposed by the military junta, officially known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which seized power from an elected civilian government in May 2014.Specifically cited by the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) […]
by Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
POLITICAL FREEDOM and civil liberties are in a downward spiral globally. Democracy is not only in retreat, but is under assault in Southeast Asia.State-sponsored threats and attacks, internet being weaponized with toxic discourse and false narratives, hate speech and identity politics have favored patrons, caused deep divisions, and targeted vulnerable sectors.In 2018, most of the […]
IN the last 34 months under President Rodrigo R. Duterte, cases and incidents of attacks and threats on the Philippine media continue relentlessly, with hardly any major efforts at investigation or solution by responsible state agencies.To mark World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, May 3, the “Freedom for Media, Freedom for All Network” released its […]
WHO have run for senator and won in the last five elections since 2004?As of the May 2016 elections, how many of the registered voters actually voted, and in which provinces, towns, and cities of the country? How many are women, how many men? How big, how small, are our voters, by age group? How […]
Money and the May 2019 Elections
by The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
A “PROMOTIONAL TOUCHPOINT.” That, in advertising and PR parlance, is what social media apparently looks like to candidates for senator in the May 2019 elections, and they have been using it as such even ahead of the official 90-day campaign period, which started last Tuesday.Because the use — and even abuse — of social media […]
by Ateneo Policy Center
FOI Practice Report from the Ateneo Policy Center (APC) I. Organizational Profile Established in 1996, the Ateneo School of Government boasts 20 years of experience in delivering leading-edge policy research and in promoting good-governance reforms. The School’s programs have made significant contributions in advancing discussion for policy reforms and innovative solutions that strengthen key democratic […]
