freedom of speech in southeast asia
DESCRIPTION
Ed Legaspi, from Southeast Asian Press Alliances, gave a talk about freedom of speech/expression on November 4th, at BlogFestAsia 2012: http://2012.blogfest.asiaTRANSCRIPT
Freedom of Expression, Information and the Press in Southeast Asia
Presentation by Ed LegaspiAlerts and Communication OfficerSoutheast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
SEAPA
• Members in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand; partners in Cambodia, Burma, and Timor Leste
• Programs: Campaigns (Press freedom, FOE in the Internet and in ASEAN), Fellowship and Trainings
• Through: Advocacy, Networking, Training and Knowledge building
Freedom of Opinion and Expression
• Human right to freedom?• Internationally and nationally protected• Not absolute (derogable)
Of all human beings
Negative right
Look it up:Constitution, laws
UDHR, ICCPR, AHRD
Understanding FOE
Freedom to hold opinions
Right to seek, receive and impart
All kinds of information and ideas
Without interference *
Through any media
Regardless of frontiers
to disagree
press freedomSelf-expression
From public authority
No censorship
Beyond borders
Right toinformationpluralism
PrintBroadcast
OnlineArt
FilmSound
Which countries ratified ICCPR?
• Cambodia (‘92)• Indonesia (‘06)• Laos (’09)• Philippines (‘78)• Thailand (‘91)• Timor Leste (‘03)• Vietnam (‘84)
• Bangladesh (‘00)• India (‘79)• Maldives (‘06)• Nepal (‘91)• Pakistan (‘10)• Sri Lanka (‘80)
• Korea, DPR (‘81)• Korea, Republic of (‘76)• Japan (’79)• Mongolia (’76)
Legal obligations toA) ImplementB) Report
Legal FOE issues
• ICCPR in only 7 out of 11 countries• FOI laws only in Indonesia and Thailand (plus
Selangor and Penang in Malaysia)• Press control laws: Brunei, Burma, Malaysia,
Singapore• Security laws: sedition, subversion, national security• Criminal laws: defamation, lese majeste, anti-state
propaganda• The rise of cybercrime laws
FOE issues in practice
• Violence and impunity against the media by state and non-state actors
• State interference in the media – Surveillance, censorship
• Self-censorship• Disregard of good laws (press and FOI)• Criminalization of expression = suppressing
freedom of opinion
Some good news
• Burma’s transition• Civil society power• Common ASEAN human rights standard• Changing media landscape
Sustainable? Attention; potential
How effective?
Implementable?
National, regional
•New space•New actors•New power•New battle ground
Directions
• Mainstream media transition to cyberspace• Role of bloggers in restrictive countries• Changing communication models• Internet governance • Addressing the question of ethics• Changing priorities: from press freedom to
freedom of expression
Implications to SEAPA
• Evaluating and campaigning on bad cybercrime laws
• Examining the situation of blogging and social media in greater detail
• Cooperating with blogger communities • … and your suggestions?
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