"The euphoria that has accompanied the birth and expansion of the internet as a "liberation technology" is increasingly eclipsed by an explosion of vitriolic language on a global scale. Digital Hate: The Global Conjuncture of Extreme Speech provides the first distinctly global and interdisciplinary
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perspective on hateful language online. Moving beyond Euro-American allegations of 'fake news,' contributors draw attention to local idioms and practices and explore the profound implications for how community is imagined, enacted, and brutally enforced around the world. With a cross-cultural framework nuanced by ethnography and field-based research, the volume investigates a wide range of cases-from anti-immigrant memes targeted at Bolivians in Chile to trolls serving the ruling AK Party in Turkey - to ask how the potential of extreme speech to talk back to authorities has come under attack by diverse forms of digital hate cultures." (Publisher description)
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"This report summarizes powerful research on the Philippines’ human rights sector in “survival mode” under Rodrigo Duterte’s violent regime. Historically known as the most active civil society in Asia, the Philippines human rights movement has faced an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy whil
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e burdened with the responsibility to advocate for the many victims of abuses. Drawing on interviews with human rights workers and their allies in journalism and the academe, this study captures diverse interpretations as to how human rights has become “broken,” “tarnished,” and “a bad word” within a short span of four years. It also describes sectoral, organizational, and generational conflicts in how seasoned veterans and younger activists have been strategizing differently in their efforts to win back public trust. This study identifies the long- and short-term trade-offs behind organizational strategies of frontlining and speaking out on the human rights abuses of the Duterte regime versus more under-the-radar backchanneling work focused on service delivery and grassroots organization. Taking a strategic communication perspective and worker-centered approach, our study specifically places the voices of the communication and technology workers in the human rights sector at the heart of our analysis. What our research uncovers is that despite their many creative experiments to connect with diverse constituencies, human rights organizations have still failed to invest material resources in sustainable communication infrastructures and empower their communication personnel. Almost half of the organizations we interviewed still had no staff member dedicated to communication or branding; communication workers continued to play peripheral roles in their organizations." (Executive summary, page 8)
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"This study examines the effects of media coverage on the Rohingya refugee crisis based on articles from two liberal, elite newspaper sources, The New York Times and The Guardian between 2010 and 2020. The study reveals that the attempts of international pressure to stop the crisis have increased th
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rough media coverage and political pressures; however, the number of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar intensified due to worsening violence and human rights violations committed by the Myanmar army. Findings are discussed using the lens of cultural and ideological context. The study suggests that in Myanmar, where authoritarian military culture is pervasive, there is a limited influence of the international press on the state-sponsored ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population and questions whether consistent international pressure could have changed the outcome." (Abstract)
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"Social media technology is having a dramatic impact on social and political dynamics around the world. The contributors to this book document and illustrate this "techtonic" shift on violent conflict and democratic processes. They present vivid examples and case studies from countries in Africa, So
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uth and Southeast Asia, Latin America as well as Northern Ireland. Each author maps an array of peacebuilding solutions to social media threats, including coordinated action by civil society, governments and tech companies to protect human minds, relationships and institutions. Solutions presented include inoculating society with a new digital literacy agenda, designing technology for positive social impacts, and regulating technology to prohibit the worst behaviours." (Publisher description)
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"Section 2 of this report provides an overview of information disorder in Asia and the Pacific and describes how it destabilizes democracy and strengthens authoritarianism. After situating information disorder in Asia and the Pacific in its historical context, Section 2 examines which actors 1) spre
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ad what narratives 2); the causes; 3) why disinformation is spread and why it does spread; 4) the tools used to manipulate and disseminate information; and 5) what impact information disorder has on democracy in Asia and the Pacific. Section 3 presents the four country case studies [Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Thailand], which examine information disorder in depth in a specific country context along the five dimensions listed above. A brief cross-country analysis identifies similarities and differences in information disorder among the case studies and examines whether they are indicative of trends beyond a national context. Section 4 identifies mitigation strategies that contain and counter the manipulation of information for political ends and critically examines their feasibility for the context of Asia and the Pacific. The aim of this section is to identify areas of engagement for future USAID projects on information disorder." (Methodology, page 10-11)
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"This groundbreaking collaborative case study is the most comprehensive assessment of online violence against a prominent woman journalist to date. We conducted a forensic analysis of the torrent of social media attacks on internationally celebrated digital media pioneer Maria Ressa over a five-year
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period (2016-2021). Here, we detail the intensity and ferocity of this abuse, and demonstrate how it is designed not only to vilify a journalism icon, but to discredit journalism itself, and shatter public trust in facts. These attacks also created an enabling environment for Ressa’s persecution and prosecution in the Philippines. Now, her life is at risk and she faces the prospect of decades in jail, proving that there is nothing virtual about online violence." (Page 1)
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"This Situation Report on the “Impact of COVID-19 on Media Freedom, Media Business Viability, and the Safety of Journalists in Southeast Asia” offers an insight into the key impacts of the pandemic on the media across nine countries. The report proposes recommendations for enabling sustainable a
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nd effective media standards to improve media freedom and the safety of journalists. It also explores potential solutions, and innovations for media business viability in the region. The publication comes at a time when news organisations have been forced to accelerate their move to providing more extensive digital services due to various lockdown restrictions, with some not having the resources to make this transition successfully. These additional financial pressures caused by COVID-19 are happening against a backdrop of broader threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists. Another challenge facing media freedom in the region is the introduction of laws purporting to combat the spread of disinformation and misinformation. While such laws have been introduced under the guise of protecting the public, they are more often used as tools to limit the ability of journalists to hold power to account. As countries geared up to fight COVID-19, a crackdown on independent journalism and critical reporting ensued. Many news outlets and media workers, notably journalists, have faced unprecedented risks to their physical and mental well-being, amid unrelenting, and intensified crackdowns on media freedom. Creating a safe and enabling environment for media and journalists to be able to work independently is a prerequisite for democracies to flourish. The issues pertaining to the safety of journalists and media sustainability during a time of crisis such as COVID-19, require attention from all stakeholders, including both state and non-state actors." (Summary, page 115)
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"One key aspect of Filipino cinema during its 100-year history is its attempt at self-reflexivity. Films that revolve around films have been made repeatedly, exploring the morality of the industry, the highs and lows of actors, or the passions of fans. Fandom, in particular, is depicted at length in
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films like Bona (Lino Brocka, 1980), Bituing Walang Ningning [Lackluster Star] (Emmanuel Borlaza, 1985), Konorang Itim [Black Crown] (Jose Mari Avellana, 1994), and Fangirl Fanboy (Barry Gonzalez, 2017). Each features a narrative centered on the life of a fan in relation to a film or a music idol. Do such movies value and appreciate their highest patrons? In what ways are representations of fan practices and behaviors in such movies affirming or contesting of fan stereotypes? How do fan representations affect the movie industry’s attitude, more broadly, toward its audiences? These are only some of the questions the paper shall address in order to identify an iconographic understanding of fans, based on movies that directly recognize their existence and narrate their experiences." (Absract)
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"This book examines the afterlife of decolonization in the collective memory of the Netherlands. It offers a new perspective on the cultural history of representing the decolonization of the Dutch East Indies, and maps out how a contested collective memory was shaped. Taking a transdisciplinary appr
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oach and applying several theoretical frames from literary studies, sociology, cultural anthropology and film theory, the author reveals how mediated memories contributed to a process of what he calls “unremembering.” He analyses in detail a broad variety of sources, including novels, films, documentaries, radio interviews, memoires and historical studies, to reveal how five decades of representing and remembering decolonization fed into an unremembering by which some key notions were silenced or ignored. The author concludes that historians, or the historical guild, bear much responsibility for the unremembering of decolonization in Dutch collective memory." (Publisher description)
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"Turning to an ICT-based community development known as the Telecentre Programme amongst Orang Asli, an indigenous people groups in Peninsular Malaysia, this paper describes why a remote virtual management devise was invented to encounter challenges related to rugged terrain constraints, which would
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have directly impacted the planning and the execution of programmes designed at the telecentres. This paper argues as a technological solution, the virtual remote management system has powered an ecosystem, which shored up the digital inclusion of the indigenous communities and in the process enabled the enhancement of local informational capabilities. To this end, it reduced their technological dependency on outsiders leading to the usability and sustainability of the telecentre for local capacity building and socioeconomic benefits for the disadvantage communities." (Abstract)
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"There is a heated debate about the social-sustainability implications of infrastructure. We engage this debate by delving into China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR), an important component of China’s infrastructure-centric Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Optimists and pessimists have offered strong v
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iews about the DSR’s social-sustainability implications. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of analytical tools and in-depth studies which can be used to judge their competing arguments. In this article, we address these problems in two ways. First, we advance an original scheme for operationalizing social sustainability. Second, we use our framework to systematically analyze the DSR’s social-sustainability effects in Ethiopia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and Hungary. Our research indicates that much of the positive and negative commentary about the DSR’s social-sustainability implications is problematic. None of our cases show significant year-to-year changes in political or quality-of-life social-sustainability benchmarks. Indeed, our analysis indicates that analysts must pay close attention to the political and economic context to understand the social-sustainability patterns associated with DSR infrastructure. Finally, it suggests that the social-sustainability implications of DSR infrastructure are dependent on its scale and nature. These findings have ramifications for broader debates about the socioeconomic impact of infrastructure." (Abstract)
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"Como esperábamos, había diferencias regionales entre los medios digitales en África, el Sudeste Asiático y América Latina que incluimos en este informe. Pero lo que más nos llamó la atención cuando revisábamos los datos eran las similitudes que emergían entre estas organizaciones de notic
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ias a medida que intentaban cubrir sus comunidades y construir modelos de negocio sustentables. Aunque la mayoría cuenta con presupuestos bastante reducidos, estos medios tienen un impacto sobresaliente comparado con el tamaño de sus equipos y recursos. Muchos se especializan en periodismo de investigación y de datos, y más del 50% ha ganado premios nacionales o internacionales por su trabajo. Punto de Inflexión 2021 representa la investigación más exhaustiva y profunda realizada sobre el estado de los medios nativos digitales en América Latina, el Sudeste Asiático y África. Como muchas de las cosas que hemos aprendido en nuestro mundo durante la pandemia, descubrimos una mezcla de amenazas alarmantes y, al mismo tiempo, logros inspiradores." (Resumen ejecutive, página 6)
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"Como era de se esperar, houve diferenças regionais entre os veículos jornalísticos digitais na África, Sudeste Asiático e América Latina que incluímos neste relatório. Mas o que mais nos impressionou ao analisarmos os dados foram as semelhanças que surgiram entre essas organizações jorna
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lísticas ao se esforçarem para cobrir suas comunidades e construir modelos de negócios sustentáveis. Embora a maioria opere com orçamentos relativamente reduzidos, elas têm um impacto que excede seu peso em comparação ao tamanho de suas equipes e recursos. Muitas delas são especializadas em jornalismo investigativo e de dados, e mais de 50% já ganharam prêmios nacionais ou internacionais por seu trabalho. Este estudo, Ponto de Inflexão Internacional, representa a mais profunda e ampla pesquisa já feita sobre o estado da mídia nativa digital na América Latina, Sudeste Asiático e África. Como acontece com tantas coisas em nosso mundo não-quase-pós-pandêmico, o que descobrimos foi uma combinação de ameaças alarmantes e descobertas inspiradoras." (Resumo executivo, pagina 6)
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"This book reflects on the role of social media in the past two decades in Southeast Asia. It traces the emergence of social media discourse in Southeast Asia, and its potential as a "liberation technology" in both democratizing and authoritarian states. It explains the growing decline in internet f
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reedom and increasingly repressive and manipulative use of social media tools by governments, and argues that social media is now an essential platform for control. The contributors detail the increasing role of "disinformation" and "fake news" production in Southeast Asia, and how national governments are creating laws which attempt to address this trend, but which often exacerbate the situation of state control. From Grassroots Activism to Disinformation explores three main questions: How did social media begin as a vibrant space for grassroots activism to becoming a tool for disinformation? Who were the main actors in this transition: governments, citizens or the platforms themselves? Can reformists "reclaim" the digital public sphere? And if so, how?" (Publisher description)
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"While much has been said about individual disinformation campaigns in specific countries, this book offers a panoramic view of how these campaigns are conducted, who they target, and how they are spread. By bringing together research on specific countries and international data mined from questionn
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aires and online studies, the understanding of the term 'fake news' is greatly expanded and the issues we face are brought to light. The book includes contributions by experts such as Jean-Baptiste Vilmer (Macron Leaks), and includes case studies from Asia, such as Singapore and Myanmar, written in an accessible manner for the general interested reader, practitioners and policymakers in the field." (Publisher description)
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