The Regional Meeting on Digital Rights organized by Asia Centre and supported by Google brought together civil society organizations (CSOs) from across Asia to discuss strategies for advocating digital rights, navigating online regulations, and exploring collaboration opportunities. While gathering in Bangkok, Thailand from 22 to 23 February 2024, 25 participants shared valuable insights, experiences, and impact stories, underscoring the need for cooperation and stakeholder engagement to effectively address digital challenges.
This recap video was produced by Campaign:
Key Takeaways
- The Importance of Collaboration: The event highlighted the significance of collaboration among CSOs, digital platforms, and other stakeholders in promoting and protecting digital rights in the Asia-Pacific region. By leveraging collective expertise and resources, organizations can amplify their impact and address complex digital challenges more effectively.
- Engaging with Stakeholders: Successful digital rights advocacy requires proactive engagement with stakeholders, including policymakers, technology companies, and the broader public. Building collaborative relationships and fostering open dialogue can lead to more inclusive and balanced policies and regulations that safeguard digital rights while addressing legitimate concerns.
- Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing: The Regional Meeting on Digital Rights provided a platform for capacity building and knowledge exchange among participants. CSOs shared best practices, success stories, and lessons learned, enabling attendees to gain new insights and strengthen their advocacy strategies.
Spotlight
2024 Indonesian General Election
In Indonesia, the 2024 General Election raised significant concerns regarding AI-generated disinformation. Issues included the spread of false information to influence voters, the creation of false narratives to sway public opinion, and the manipulation of candidates’ images.
In response, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) took action by raising public awareness about the risks of AI-generated disinformation, launching educational campaigns to help people distinguish between authentic and fake information, and advocating for government policies to regulate the use of AI technology in the political and electoral context.
Steps to curb AI-generated disinformation include better public education on identifying and combating fake information, increased cooperation between social media platforms, government, and NGOs to monitor and take action against disinformation, and the development of algorithms and detection technologies to identify and combat harmful content.
CSOs can ensure that AI regulations strike a balance between protecting freedom of speech and safeguarding against the risks of disinformation. They can also monitor the implementation of AI regulations to prevent abuse of power or suppression of civil society voices and media freedom.
Campaign’s #VoiceYourLove Initiative
Campaign, a social action platform from Indonesia, collaborated with 31 CSOs to launch the #VoiceYourLove (#SuarakanCintamu) campaign. The initiative aims to promote peaceful elections and encourage young people to vote. Actions from this campaign include sharing hoaxes found online, rejecting political money, and more. This campaign is supported by more than 8,000 Indonesian youth. Find out more about the campaign here and the video here.
Opportunities for Engagement
The knowledge and information shared at the event present opportunities for others to engage in various ways:
- Upcoming Digital Security Training Initiatives: Participate in planned training programs focused on enhancing digital security and privacy practices. The upcoming online sessions of the Digital Rights Programme for CSOs in 2024 will cover topics on Surveillance & Privacy, Foreign Interference and Artificial Intelligence.
- Online Sessions: Attend online sessions covering topics such as fact-checking, media literacy, surveillance, privacy, foreign interference, and artificial intelligence to deepen your understanding of digital rights challenges.
- Collaboration and Resource Exchange: Explore opportunities for collaboration and resource exchange with organizations to further advance digital rights agendas in your respective contexts. At this event, there were representatives from Article 19, BPSOS, Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM), Campaign, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Digital Rights Nepal, DAKILA and Active Vista Center, Hashtag Generation, Indika Foundation, International IDEA, JANIC, Kalyanamitra, The Online Citizen, Open Development Mekong, SAFEnet, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, and Vietnam Rise.
By fostering regional collaboration, engaging with stakeholders, and leveraging shared knowledge and resources, CSOs and individuals can play a vital role in shaping a digital landscape that respects and upholds fundamental rights and freedoms.
Click here for a summary of the event from the Asia Centre.
Share Your Insights
We invite you to share your thoughts, experiences, and insights related to digital rights advocacy and collaboration. By contributing to this interactive discussion, you can help foster a more inclusive and informed dialogue. Feel free to leave a comment below responding to these prompts:
- What strategies have you found effective in advocating for digital rights in your region or context?
- How can CSOs, digital platforms, and other stakeholders collaborate more effectively to address digital challenges?
- Share an example of a successful digital rights advocacy initiative or campaign that others can learn from.
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