iMAP STATE OF INTERNET CENSORSHIP REPORT 2022
Internet Monitoring Action Project (iMAP) aims to establish regional and in-country networks that monitor network interference and restrictions to the freedom of expression online in 9 countries: Myanmar, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Sinar Project is currently working with national digital rights partners in these 9 countries. The project is done via Open Observatory Network Interference (OONI) detection and reporting systems, involving the maintenance of test lists and measurements.
Overview of Internet Censorship
There are no countries in the Southeast Asian region that have gained the status of achieving internet freedom considered as “free”. Governments in the region are increasingly imposing Internet regulations in a manner that restricts the flow of information across national borders and limits internet freedom. Despite being a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that provides protection to the freedom of expression which can only be restricted in limited circumstances of legality, legitimacy and necessity under Article 19(3), the Inter-Ministerial Prakas (proclamation) on Website and Social Media Control was adopted to impose obligation on all internet service providers to install surveillance software to monitor content circulated on the internet. The new National Internet Gateway requiring internet service providers in Cambodia to reroute internet traffic through a regulatory body will enable monitoring of online activity. Internet freedoms in Hong Kong continue to diminish. The imposition of National Security Law has led to political websites showing dissident contents to be blocked on the grounds of national security.
Read the full report here.