Issue 6

January 2018

ASIA

DigitalAsia
 This edition of Perspectives Asia is
published jointly by the offices of the
Heinrich Böll Foundation in Asia

Beijing

Islamabad
NeW Delhi

Yangon
Bangkok
Phnom Penh

Heinrich Böll Foundation

The Heinrich Böll Foundation is a publicly funded institute that is closely affiliated
with the German party Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. From our headquarters in Berlin and
32 overseas offices, we promote green ideas and projects in Germany, as well as
in more than 60 countries worldwide. Our work in Asia concentrates on promoting civil
society, democratic structures, social participation for all women and men, and global
justice. Together with our partners, we work toward conflict prevention, peaceful
dispute resolution, and search for solutions in the fight against environmental degrada-
tion and the depletion of global resources. To achieve these goals, we rely on disseminat-
ing knowledge, creating a deeper understanding between actors in Europe and Asia, and
on a global dialogue as a prerequisite for constructive negotiations.

Cover illustration: Ines Meier

All rights reserved to Heinrich Böll Foundation
Contents

2 Introduction

4 The Curious Case of Vox Populi 2.0: ASEAN’s Complicated Romance with Social Media
Joel Mark Baysa Barredo and Jose Santos P. Ardivilla

8 Halfway There: Myanmar’s Difficult Transition toward Freedom of Expression

Nay Phone Latt

11 Rethinking Media Reform in Southeast Asia: Promoting a Participatory Approach

for a More Democratic Media
Gayathry Venkiteswaran

15 Dealing with the Past: Engaging in the Present

App-learning on Khmer Rouge History: An Internet-based Multimedia Application
Duong Keo and Sopheap Chea

19 You Are What You Share: How Social Media Is Changing Afghan Society
Sayed Asef Hossaini

24 «Restricting Women’s Space on the Internet Is a Violation of Their Rights»

An Interview with Nighat Dad by Fabian Heppe

27 Pakistan’s Cybercrime Law: Boon or Bane?

Farieha Aziz

31 Aadhaar: The Indian Biometric ID System Has Potential but Presents Many Concerns
Sushil Kambampati

35 IT Giants in China: A Tough Business

Sophie Ping Sun
2 Introduction

Introduction

Digital Transformation in Asia: Between

Fascination and Doubt

China’s social media platform Tencent is penetrating all aspects of daily activities
Holdings has become bigger than Facebook in the private and public spheres. In China,
and is now the fifth most valuable company facial recognition technology has perme-
in the world. India has left the United States ated day-to-day business. At the Beijing
behind in the race to become the largest Capital Airport, facial recognition helps to
source of digital talents. Indonesia has the streamline boarding. Students can enter
fastest-growing number of internet users their university halls by blinking into a cam-
worldwide. Such headlines have become era, and in some restaurants, you can pay for
commonplace, illustrating how digitaliza- your meal with a simple smile to a scanner.
tion is driving change in Asia. The region Digital trends are also heating up in less-
already accounts for half of the world’s 2.8 industrialized Asian countries. In Pakistan
billion internet users, and by 2025 fast- and Myanmar, digital platforms make the
changing technologies – including the search for healthcare professionals and the
mobile internet, the Internet of Things delivery of medicine to remote areas more
(IoT), cloud technology, 3-D printing, and feasible. They help provide information to
advanced robotics – are expected to bring a pregnant women or arrange phone con-
massive economic boost to Asia. This indi- sultations. Such businesses not only create
cates the impressive transformation that much-needed jobs, but also spur profound
lies ahead for the continent. social change. People who were formerly
Many Asian megacities have become excluded from social security benefits, due
vibrant ecosystems for startups and are to their far-off locations or lack of official
attracting a growing number of young identification papers, can now claim social
techies. Already, a third of the world’s app services or open a bank account with just a
developers are based in Asia. Southeast few clicks. Thus, the digital transformation
Asia is an especially appealing testing of the business sector offers new opportuni-
ground for digital products, due to an open- ties for inclusive and sustainable develop-
mindedness toward new technologies and ment – and for developing Asian countries,
an infinite number of potential customers. it is a chance to leapfrog.
Furthermore, companies can draw upon The success story of the digital economy
an immense workforce, which tends to is so promising that it is increasingly attract-
be highly educated and culturally diverse. ing the interest of political actors. «Digital
These are ideal market conditions for inno- first» has become a guiding principle for
vative companies to prosper. In fact, these every government that takes itself seriously.
properties have made some Asian cities Indeed, political leaders of Asian coun-
even more popular than some of the digital tries vie with one another in their glorious
hubs in the Western hemisphere. This year, visions to build fully digitalized and smart
for example, according to the website Nes- nations. «Made in China 2025,» «Digital
pick, Singapore overtook San Francisco as India,» Japan's «Society 5.0» and «Digital
the best startup city worldwide. Bangladesh Vision 2021» are just a few of the
People’s lives in Asia are strongly based prominent catchphrases that can be found
on digital technology, much more so than in the various national strategies aiming to
in other parts of the world. Digitalization put their countries at the forefront of dis-
 Introduction 3

ruptive technologies. To reach these ambi- example. Pakistan passed an internet law
tious goals, governments are sparing no in 2016 that can be used to criminalize free
efforts. The Japanese government's vision speech online and gives unchecked powers
of a Society 5.0 for example aims to tackle to authorities. Such legal measures enable
challenges like the demographic change by governments to control nearly every detail
placing more robots in retirement homes of their citizens’ environment.
and therefore digitilizing not just the econ- What sounds like spooky Orwellian
omy but also other levels of Japanese society. fiction could become reality in a few years,
In Singapore, a newly created Government thanks to the rapid development of new
Technology Agency plans to digitize key technologies and the willingness of com-
functions of governance and public life, panies to comply. For fear of being banned
including municipal services and the sub- from the lucrative Asian markets, large
mission of a tax return. In addition, China IT companies are providing governments
recently announced that it will be stepping with comprehensive data. The Indian gov-
up its financial support – to more than $1.5 ernment, for example, launched a Central
billion – to boost manufacturing innova- Monitoring System in 2013, granting the
tion. This shows that Asian governments government centralized access to all the
are pushing hard for digital technology. metadata and contents of communica-
Whereas in Europe, some countries, such tion traversing through all telecommuni-
as Germany, are reluctant to make the cation networks in India. This means that
necessary investments to improve online the Indian government can listen to all
infrastructure, Asian decision-­ m akers calls, track all mobile phones, read all text
understand that better internet connec- messages, and see all the websites that an
tivity is an important advantage for local individual has visited. These developments
industry and may ultimately improve the pose a severe threat to privacy and demo-
lives of citizens. cratic freedom of expression.
Against this background, it is not at Digitalization in Asia offers both oppor-
all surprising that Asia is leading in digital tunities and risks. Although it allows people
innovation and is ahead of other regions, to be better connected and makes busi-
including Europe and the Americas. Anyone ness processes more efficient, uncontrolled
who wants to learn about the latest digital access to personal data allows companies
trends must now look to the Far East. Trave- and governments to intrude deep into the
lers to Asia are often baffled when they see daily lives of citizens. It is therefore impor-
how technologically advanced certain areas tant that decisions about digitalization
are, and businesspeople come in droves to are not left solely to big corporations and
spot new, inspiring, and disruptive business governments. Civil society needs to play
models. However, not all that glitters is gold. an active role in shaping our digital future.
Many Asian countries see digitalization as When privacy is at risk, the question of who
a means to attract business and generate owns data is crucial. It does not suffice to
economic growth, but they also realize that grant people access to digital services when
new technologies are being used by govern- they have no control of the data being gen-
ments to secure their own political power. erated. Civil society organizations need to
In times of shrinking civic spaces, online stress that privacy is no longer a mere eti-
media and digital technology are sometimes quette or social norm in Asia, and that the
used as modern tools of state repression. protection of private digital data must be
Non-democratic states are especially prone rooted in legal standards. If digital rights
to this abuse of power. The digital visions of are treated as human rights, many of the
authoritarian regimes entail the use of big innovative technologies in Asia could rep-
data – collected by billions of sensors – and resent more than just means of amusement
the evaluation of citizens’ internet profiles. or tools of convenience – they could actually
The Chinese political leadership is already empower the people. 
making wide-ranging efforts to manage the
internet within their national borders. A
new cyber security law obliges foreign com- Fabian Heppe
panies to store their data about customers Project Manager for the
and employees in China. Once it is central- Asia Department
ized in one location, sensitive data would Heinrich Böll Foundation,
no longer be protected from government January 2018
access. Other countries are following this
4 Southeast Asia 
Asia The Curious Case of Vox Populi 2.0: ASEAN’s Complicated Romance with Social Media

The Curious Case of Vox Populi 2.0:

ASEAN’s Complicated Romance with
Social Media
Joel Mark Baysa Barredo and Jose Santos P. Ardivilla

Barely three decades ago, the business of

information was a one-way street. Televi-
Televi- increasing rates of migration, people can
sion, radio, and print media were the main still communicate with friends and family
sources of information, providing lim-
lim- through programs such as Viber, Line, and
WhatsApp. Mobility has also become more
ited opportunity for consumer feedback.
hassle-free through instant services pro-
Telecommunication facilities were scarce,
vided by online transportation applications
and mobile phones were costly and could such as GoJek (Indonesia), Grab, and Uber.
only be acquired by well-to-do individuals. The internet gave birth to a generation
Fast forward to today: Human interaction, that could instantly engage with the world.
expressions, and movements have ad- ad- Social media provides people with a plat-
vanced dramatically due to a technologi-
technologi- form to connect globally with like-minded
cal resource that is now deemed essential people. Popular sites such as Facebook and
to billions of people. The World Wide Web Twitter also allow people to be part of the
discourse and movements via online groups,
allows people to connect, know, and be
memes, and hashtags. Furthermore, You-
heard, regardless of socioeconomic status,
Tube has produced not just celebrities, but
age, gender, or political persuasion. In also people of political influence.
fact, it is so integral to human existence People who are silenced, marginalized,
that the UN acknowledged the human and powerless have indeed found an ally in
Joel Mark Baysa Barredo is the right to access the internet in 2011. social media. However, many governments
program manager for research deem this phenomenon to be threatening.
for the Strengthening Human This digital revolution has pushed many
Rights and Peace Research and
Education in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is no stranger to the inevita- ASEAN governments to regulate online
Project (SHAPE-SEA). He is ble impact of the internet. In fact, most parts activities in the pursuit of protecting «social
also a core team member of the
of the region have a higher internet pen- harmony» and «national interests and
ASEAN Youth Forum. He thinks
that digital technologies have etration rate than the rest of the world. The peace.» According to Freedom House, the
enabled many to make their voices Philippines is considered by many studies governments of internet-savvy Malaysia,
heard but also hindered many in
to be the social media capital of the world. Thailand, and Singapore have actively cen-
the fight for the truth.
Even Myanmar, which had difficulties con- sored topics such as criticism of authorities,
necting to the world not even a decade ago, political satires, and social commentaries.
Jose Santos P. Ardivilla is an
assistant professor at the Depart-
has been enjoying the highest growth rate Controversial social issues surrounding the
ment of Visual Communication of social media users among its neighbors. LGBTQI community as well as religious and
in the College of Fine Arts at Internet speeds in Singapore and Thailand ethnic minorities are also being scrutinized
the University of the Philippines
Diliman. He sees social media
– two of the region’s main economic hubs – in Vietnam and Indonesia. Interestingly, the
as a tool that allows people to have surpassed global standards for average Philippines, which has the slowest internet
easily connect with each other and speeds. speeds in ASEAN, enjoys greater freedom of
share ideas. On the downside, the
rip-roaring, partisan propaganda The campaign of the Association of internet use and interaction. 
on social media makes him yearn Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a One prime example of government
for those bygone, quiet days of more integrated community seems out- insecurity surrounding the power of social
the past, when one did not have
to hear in real-time every state- dated, considering how people already con- media is the case of then 16-year-old
enabled stupidity that is uttered. nect and interact in cyberspace. Despite Amos Yee. During the national mourning
 The Curious Case of Vox Populi 2.0: ASEAN’s Complicated Romance with Social Media  Southeast Asia 5

for Lee Kuan Yew in 2015, Yee shared his Indonesian President Joko Widodo
«unconventional» thoughts about the late ( Jokowi) is the most social-media-savvy
Singaporean founder on YouTube. Both among ASEAN leaders. His campaign for
the government and its loyal supporters presidency utilized social media in its early
found his video disrespectful and offensive. stages. As president, he posts video logs, as
The Singaporean government eventually if in real time, to inform the public of his
pressed charges against him, and he was activities – be it having dinner with the King
temporarily detained. Yee recently filed for of Saudi Arabia or arm-wrestling with his
asylum to the United States to escape harsh son. This enabled Jokowi to reach millions
penalties and social persecution. Despite of young voters. Social media proved to be
this, Amos was able to gather support from an asset in Jokowi’s quest for maintenance
within and outside Singapore via online and power by not only creating a connec-
platforms that had gotten him into trouble tion, but also gaining traction with young
in the first place. voters. Instead of fiery rhetoric and hum-
drum campaign promises, viral videos and
hashtags have proven to be quite the engag-
The social and political ing alternative for political discourse. 
might of social media: A One notable example deals with the hor-
rendous Jakarta automobile traffic. Utilizing
closer look at Indonesia and snappy music video editing, one viral video
the Philippines had a song on the time-wasting and soul-
draining traffic, matching it to snail-paced
In recent years, the internet has contrib- bureaucracy. The seamless interconnection
uted a great deal to human rights and of national bureaucratic redress, catchy
fundamental freedoms as well as to the slang in Bahasa Indonesia, and global pop
extensive progress of social knowledge in culture has rendered the discourse of poli-
most parts of the ASEAN region. Indone- tics easily digestible for young voters.
sia and the Philippines – two of the more As president, Jokowi utilizes social
advanced democratic nations in the region media to establish himself as a digital folk
– have been witnessing the various effects figure. With a hashtag like «#AskJokowi,»
of social media on their respective govern- netizens can directly address the president.
ments and people. Millions of Indonesians In addition, by sharing snippets of his life
and Filipinos currently turn to social media with millions of followers, he makes citizens
platforms for their daily dose of news, gos- and voters feel closer to him. Jokowi’s easy-
sip, entertainment, and, in a more disturb- going online persona was helpful to rally
ing uptick, their political discourse. With younger voters to support Basuki Tjahaja
such a massive and vigorous social media Purnama (Ahok), his handpicked successor
presence, how is democracy framed in high- to the Jakarta governorship, which is a pos-
speed communication in these two ASEAN sible stepping stone to the presidency. Lead-
countries? ing up to the election, Ahok rode on Jokowi’s
social media coattails, enjoying consider-
6 Southeast Asia 
Asia The Curious Case of Vox Populi 2.0: ASEAN’s Complicated Romance with Social Media

able online popularity, as evidenced by the army of «trolls» to clean their names, revise
number of hashtags associated with him. history, and drag their opponents through
In the nearby Philippines, many jok- the mud. One such example was a story of
ingly observe that the country is ahead of the vice president going to New York to have
the United States by six months in terms of an abortion. It is noteworthy to frame all of
the online proliferation of fake news – and this with the fact that Duterte admitted that
people clustering toward ideology – instead the Marcoses helped him to gain presidency.
of facts and «truth in journalism.» These fac- Duterte paid his political dues at the burial
tors were harnessed by entrenched political of the late dictator in the Heroes’ Cemetery.
families in the 2016 elections, revealing the Many pro-Duterte posts share ludicrous
power of social media. This resulted in the stories that purport the greatness of the Fili-
election of the Davao City mayor, Rodrigo pino president. One such post claimed that
Duterte, as president, and the near-victory Duterte had been voted by NASA as the best
of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. (Bongbong) as vice president in the galaxy – this was shared
president. Although Marcos lost his election blindly by some, and scorned and mocked
bid, his role in catapulting Duterte to power by others. A former government official
has been acknowledged. The Marcoses used appointed by Duterte unabashedly shared
nostalgia and internet memes to enhance a photo of a woman crying over the body
their image and redirect populist hostility of a dead girl who was sexually assaulted,
and anger toward the Aquinos, who were and whose body was dumped in the woods.
perceived as elitist and disconnected. The post went on to rile against drug users,
As early as 2010, memes started to cir- because the suspect had used illegal sub-
culate showing the «achievements» of the stances before raping the girl. Many pointed
Marcos regime. These memes listed the out, however, that the photo was from a
infrastructure constructed, the economic Latin American country, but Duterte passed
gains made, and superimposed photos the photo off as having been taken in the
of a young Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., looking Philippines. He was duly called out, but no
presidential, youthful, vigorous, and like retraction or apology was made.
a determined leader. Set in contrast to the A number of bloggers and social media
numerous problems and general incom- personalities who are vehemently pro-
petence of the Aquino administration, this Duterte have received government posts as
generated nostalgia for the imagined glori- well as unprecedented access to the presi-
ous past of the Marcos years. Many of the dential palace. These bloggers disguise
pro-Marcos memes were misleading and themselves as «folk heroes» and accuse the
misinformed, but still, many supporters mainstream media of being «paid» – even
shared and asserted their ideology, fore- coining the term «presstitutes» – when
shadowing the proliferation of fake news. news stories are critical of Duterte. These
Furthermore, there have been allega- stories, they claim, destabilize the country.
tions of the Marcoses employing an online The Philippine media – touted as one of

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Digital growth in millions (January 2017)
Source: We Are Social Singapore (2017)

🌐 🗪 mobilephone
+ 31 % + 31 % + 8 %

+ 80 million + 72 million + 62 million

Internet users Active social media users Mobile subscriptions
since January 2016 since January 2016 since January 2016
 The Curious Case of Vox Populi 2.0: ASEAN’s Complicated Romance with Social Media  Southeast Asia 7

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Social media penetration (January 2017)
Source: Statista 2017

86 %

🗪
Brunei

77 %
Singapore

71 %
Malaysia

67 %
Thailand

58 %
Philippines

48 %
Vietnam

40 %
Indonesia

37 %
Global average

the world’s freest and most raucous institu- The story lives on: An
tions following the revival of democracy in evolving culture of online
1986 – now faces a new obstacle: delegitimi-
zation via online programming, with trolls citizens in ASEAN
and pro-Duterte social media users casting
doubt on news stories. Furthermore, this In recent years, social media in ASEAN has
has enabled many to adopt a troll mentality quickly evolved from being a passive tool
and attack opponents ad hominem. for knowledge consumption and entertain-
Ever since Facebook became «free,» ment to an active mechanism for change.
many Filipino netizens have bracketed Its effects on Indonesia and the Philippines
their lives and opinions on this platform. are telling of how the power of the internet
However, the only thing that is «free» is can have life-changing impacts on people,
navigating Facebook posts; data charges states, social norms, and national laws. In
are incurred once one opens a link to a dif- developing and democratically evolving
ferent website. This has created a danger- countries in the region, the internet has
ous precedent of reading only the headlines become a source of power for the oppressed
and comments, resulting in opinions being and ill-resourced. In Cambodia, the public
based on partial information. turned to Facebook to express grave con-
The internet in the Philippine context cerns over the murder of activist Kem Ley.
has gone beyond the initial ideal of its crea- In Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi’s inaction
tion – as a fount of information – but it has toward human rights violations against the
also been used by those with sociopolitical Rohingya people was met with serious criti-
and economic power as a tool for transmit- cism from netizens.
ting propaganda and manipulating both the The romance between ASEAN citizens
minds and memories of Filipinos. If there is and social media lives on. Social media
anything the Philippines can offer the world continues to shape a more integrated and
in terms of social media dominance, it is the digitally savvy regional community. It has
following: The country should be seen as a encouraged ASEAN peoples to go beyond
cautionary tale in which «truth» versus ide- limitations set by geographic borders, polit-
ology are now the basis of content genera- ical lines, and socioeconomic realities. At 50,
tion. This content generation is consumed ASEAN and its member states must admit
by netizens, who have more time to com- that social media is not just here to stay, but
ment and spread (mis)information than to that it is – and will remain – a dynamic force
read and verify information. to be reckoned with. 
8 Myanmar  Halfway There: Myanmar’s Difficult Transition toward Freedom of Expression
Myanmar

Halfway There:
Myanmar’s Difficult Transition toward
Freedom of Expression
Nay Phone Latt

For decades, Myanmar was among the

most isolated countries in the world. The
Restricting technologies
military regime prevented people from creates invisible walls
obtaining outside information by restrict-
restrict-
Thanks to the spread of information via the
ing access to digital media. The process
internet, they were able to share with the
of democratization has subsequently im-im-
international community what was happen-
proved the access to information technol-
technol- ing in their own country. However, this was a
ogies. Although the arrival of the internet dangerous venture. Most websites – notably
has changed things for the better, people those of exiled media such as the BBC, VOA,
still cannot express themselves freely RFA, and DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma)
without fear of persecution. Journalists, – had been banned under Myanmar military
writers, and human rights advocates are rule. Watching exiled TV media companies
still waiting for the radical changes prom-
prom- via satellite dishes was also forbidden. Many
people were only able to use the email ser-
ised by the new government.
vice officially provided by the former junta
government. The use of other email services,
At the turn of the new millennium, there such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail, was prohib-
were many discussions about how emerg- ited, as was the registration of blogs under
ing technologies were bringing people from these email services. Anyone who violated
different countries closer together. Whereas these bans risked imprisonment.
for many the world had transformed into a In 2004, the government created a legal
«global village,» Myanmar remained a vil- basis for these moves with the Electronic
lage cut off from the rest of the world by its Transactions Law, which handed down
military dictatorship. Unfair laws and strict severe punishments for citizens who com-
limits imposed by government authorities municated with the world using technol-
isolated Myanmar and prevented it from ogy and the internet. Section 33(a) of the
participating in global developments. The law threatened dissidents with seven to
dictators who erected these barriers kept fifteen years in prison for conducting anti-
Nay Phone Latt is a blogger and Myanmar’s citizens ignorant of the radical government activities online. After a series
activist who co-founded the social and political changes that were occur- of political and economic protests and dem-
Myanmar ICT for Development
Organization (MIDO). He was
ring elsewhere in the world. Yet, young peo- onstrations led by Buddhist monks in 2007,
arrested in January 2008 and ple in Myanmar, who were brought up in the which came to be known as the Saffron Revo-
sentenced to more than 20 years new electronic information age, used infor- lution, the junta frequently used this law to
in prison for his alleged involve-
ment in spreading news during
mation technology as a «drilling machine» punish political activists in 2008. Many poli-
the 2007 Saffron Revolution. He to view these changes beyond their borders. ticians were imprisoned for several terms
was released in January 2012 as They then realized how much Myanmar was and thereby silenced. For example, the 88
part of a mass presidential pardon
of political prisoners. After his lagging behind and shared their knowledge Generation student leaders – Min Ko Naing,
imprisonment, he received the with other citizens. Ko Jimmy, Htay Kywe, and Ko Ko Gyi – were
PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom each sentenced to 60-year prison terms on
to Write Award. Currently, he is
serving as a Yangon Region luttaw four charges. Similarly, the famous comedian
member of parliament. Zarganar was sentenced to a 45-year prison
 Halfway There: Myanmar’s Difficult Transition toward Freedom of Expression  Myanmar 9

term on three charges. Among many others, nology sector. Formerly banned websites
I was also sentenced to a 20.5-year prison were unblocked. Bloggers no longer had to
term. Under Section 33(a) of the Electronic use proxy sites to access blogs. A new era of
Transactions Law, charges were pressed digital freedom began and Myanmar citizens
against me for my online blogging. However, could open two or three different Facebook
I am certain that my participation in the Saf- accounts without fearing persecution. The
fron Revolution as well as my connections to cost of a SIM card fell from about $3,000 to
the 88 Generation played a part in my arrest. $1.50. People started buying mobile phones
and no longer needed to use public phones.
Furthermore, privately owned media
The change of government emerged in Myanmar. Even formerly exiled
stimulated freedom of media organizations returned to the coun-
try. After a long time, Myanmar citizens were
expression able to enjoy the first tender buds of freedom
of expression.
Thanks to the great efforts undertaken by
Myanmar citizens, freedom-loving foreign-
ers, international organizations, local and Countering hate with
foreign activists, and the media, Myanmar «flower speech»
began to change in 2008. The junta held a
referendum to approve the «2008 Constitu- Although the government officially granted
tion,» and a multi-party election was held in its citizens free access to the internet, and
2010. However, the main opposition party, privately owned companies were allowed to
the National League For Democracy (NLD), run their own media channels, the govern-
did not participate in the election because ment remained very critical of the media.
its leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was still Journalists were still being treated like crimi-
under house arrest. Instead, the Union Soli- nals, and the government even adopted a
darity and Development Party, which was policy to fight media with media. Strict limi-
comprised of many retired military generals, tations were imposed, freedom of expression
won the majority of parliamentary seats. was misused, and hate speech spread. Before
With the new government having moved and after the 2012 by-election, in which Daw
away somewhat from the strict measures Aung San Suu Kyi was campaigning for a
of the «old days,» policy changes began to parliamentary seat, sectarian violence was
appear in 2010 and the government began provoked by some posts on social networks,
to loosen its grip on some parts of society, with some people inciting violence by dis-
despite the fact that the top government seminating false rumors. It is alleged that
officials in 2010 were the same ones as in there were some groups that systematically
the previous period. During this time, big misused websites and social networks to
changes were also being implemented in stir up hatred. Community-based organiza-
the information and communication tech- tions and young activists, who began view-

MYANMAR
Digital growth in millions (January 2017)
Source: We Are Social Singapore (2017)

🌐 🗪 mobilephone
+ 97 % + 84 % + 38 %

+ 7 million + 6 million + 14 million

Internet users Active social media users Mobile subscriptions
since January 2016 since January 2016 since January 2016
10 Myanmar  Halfway There: Myanmar’s Difficult Transition toward Freedom of Expression
Myanmar

ing hate speech as a threat to freedom of U Htin Kyaw, son of the famous writer Min
expression, launched the Flower Speech Thu Wun, became President of Myanmar,
(Panzagar) campaign. Their aim was to cre- and the respected writer U Pe Myint became
ate awareness that the moderation of speech the Minister of Information. In addition,
could prevent hatred among people. They journalists and literary communities have
understood that freedom of speech was become more active.
not equivalent to the «freedom to swear» or
insult somebody. Panzagar is thus a move-
ment informing people that there should be Still a long way to go
a corresponding responsibility for every right,
and it urges people not to use hate speech. Whatever the changes, it must be admitted
Many people felt deeply insecure due to the that there are still limitations, challenges,
distrust caused by hate speech. As a reaction, and threats. For example, some people still
people of every age offered active coopera- have a hard time tolerating online criti-
tion with Panzagar. As a result, the move- cisms and make use of Section 66(d) of the
ment spread across the country. Panzagar Telecommunications Law – a provision that
even cooperated with Facebook to create the criminalizes ill-defined, online defamation –
«Comment Sticker Pack,» which is the first to sue each other. So far, there have been 77
ever M­ yanmar-language anti-hate-speech cases filed under Section 66(d). Only seven
sticker pack. Because of the Panzagar move- were filed under the previous government,
ment, people came to understand that hate with the remaining 70 being filed under
speech creates dangers and can quickly pro- this new government. This shows that even
liferate, both on social networks and in the though people in Myanmar have achieved
real world. a degree of freedom to express that which
When the NLD won the election in 2015, was formerly unimaginable just a few years
there were great hopes in Myanmar that back, Section 66(d) is still a huge obstacle to
citizens could finally practice freedom of expressing opinions. It is a shame that free-
expression and access information without dom of expression and internet freedom are
any further restrictions. Since I also won a being curtailed in such a way.
parliamentary seat as an electoral candidate, Although the parliament submitted a
I witnessed how high people’s expectations bill recommending amendments to some
were of the NLD. These expectations pose of the severe penalties under the Electronic
a huge challenge for the new government. Transactions Law in August, real freedom of
There is a palpable yearning for more free- expression in Myanmar can only be achieved
dom of expression, which has, to an extent, if new laws, such as a Right to Information
been realized: Privately owned newspapers Law, are drafted to ensure further freedoms.
and journals have emerged, and TV licenses Furthermore, the executive branch has to
have been granted to private organizations. avoid doing things that can harm freedom
of expression. In simple terms, focusing on
freedom of expression as a fundamental
value and acting accordingly is the best way
MYANMAR
to achieve the vision of creating a democratic
Some improvements in Myanmar’s fight for digital freedom federal union.
Although, on the surface, it appears that
Until 2013, Myanmar had only a few internet service providers, all of much progress has been made over the last
which were controlled by the government. The political transition in My-
My- decade, we must consider various points of
anmar offered the digital sector an opportunity to leapfrog, as investments
comparison when discussing freedom. Of
in the telecommunications market sharply increased. The drop in SIM
course, compared to 1988, when the pro-
card prices – together with the influx of investment from foreign mobile
democracy movement began, Myanmar’s
operators in newly liberalized markets – marked a new era for the country.
development has been astonishing, but it still
After decades of being cut off from the outside, people began using mobile
lags far behind when compared to standards
phones as their main device for communicating and accessing the internet.
Today, more than 17 million people – representing 26 percent of the coun-
coun- in developed nations. Whatever the compari-
try – regularly go online. Despite these changes, restrictive telecommuni-
telecommuni- sons, one of the great hopes of citizens is that
cations laws continue to threaten the freedom of expression online. Under the situation will not worsen, even if it does
the military government, regulations were enacted to sue internet users, not improve. The goal is still far away and the
including journalists, in order to silence critical voices. Furthermore, false roads are still rough, but we have to believe
rumors and hate speech are incited by some politicians, leading to violence that we will reach our goal someday, and we
and mistrust. Myanmar, therefore, has a long way to go before it achieves must highly value our freedom and move
real online freedom. united through this transition. 
 Rethinking Media Reform in Southeast Asia: Promoting a Participatory Approach for a More Democratic Media  Southeast Asia 11

Rethinking Media Reform in Southeast Asia:

Promoting a Participatory Approach for a
More Democratic Media
Gayathry Venkiteswaran

Internet users in Southeast Asia are con-

con-
fronted with a heavily regulated environ-
environ- ing the regulation of content, platforms,
ment in which there are more restrictions distribution channels, and liabilities affect-
being placed on freedom of expression. ing media and technology companies as
well as society. Governments in Southeast
Despite technological advances, societies
Asia are trying to regulate local and foreign
undergoing political transitions, such as
companies, including media outlets (news
Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand, have and entertainment) and platform owners
yet to enjoy the full democratic potentials (Google/YouTube) for financial and content
of a free and independent media. Instead liabilities. There appears to be a tradeoff
of top-down reforms for the media, these between the benefits that can be derived
countries need policies that prioritize the from these technological advances and
public’s interests. Only with the meaning-
meaning- the rights that governments are willing to
ful participation of civil society can these recognize as being fundamental to a well-
functioning democracy. Part of this prob-
reforms become sustainable while sup- sup-
lem can be traced to the disjointed ways in
porting democratization.
which the different media platforms and
spaces have been «regulated» as well as
Pick any corner of the Southeast Asian to the motivations regarding control and
region and one is bound to find some- profits rather than the public interest. More
one swiping the screen of a smartphone often than not, there is little public partici-
and possibly accessing YouTube or social pation in determining the direction of the
media sites such as Facebook. YouTube is media industry and choosing what val-
an online video platform owned by Google ues the public ought to assign to informa-
and is one of the most visited sites in a tion and communication processes. These
region inhabited by more than 600 million issues arise when looking at countries such
people. These platforms have become the as Indonesia, which has almost two decades
go-to destinations for anyone with a mobile of reform experiences; Myanmar, which is
device to watch and access all sorts of con- seen as a newcomer in this debate; and
tent, including news and entertainment. Thailand, where the levels of freedom have
The content is shared and discussed with expanded and contracted several times over
Gayathry Venkiteswaran
friends and strangers using different chat the last few decades. teaches media and politics at
applications and social media accounts. the University of Nottingham,
The advantage of this user engagement is Malaysia Campus, where she is
that increasing numbers of people are get- Punished for expression also pursuing a PhD on the topic of
media reforms in Southeast Asia.
ting involved in political discourse because She was previously the executive
the costs for accessing the media have Myanmar has some of the fastest-growing director of the Bangkok-based
Southeast Asian Press Alliance,
declined ­significantly. metrics regarding the population’s use of where she focused on media
However, beyond this growing engage- mobile phones, internet penetration, and freedom. Prior to that, she worked
ment with digital media – and unbeknownst social media use, but the list of critics who in Malaysia as a journalist and
lobbied for the introduction of two
to most users – for quite some time there are at risk of being jailed there for their state-level freedom of information
has been simmering controversy regard- online expression is also getting longer. laws.
12 Southeast Asia 
Asia Rethinking Media Reform in Southeast Asia: Promoting a Participatory Approach for a More Democratic Media

Journalists who once feared a draconian digital technologies. In other words, socie-
and archaic press and criminal laws are ties in Southeast Asian countries are told
now campaigning against the Telecommu- that they can access the media via its vari-
nications Law (enacted in 2013), which has ous technologies, but not the rights or the
implicated more than 70 people for com- potential for unfettered access and expres-
ments posted on Facebook. In Thailand, sion. Even in relatively freer Indonesia, the
the Computer Crimes Act 2007 became Electronic, Information and Transaction
one of the main legal tools – together with Law 2008 is now considered to be one of the
criminal laws on lese majeste – to silence most notorious tools to stifle expression, as
those who had been critical of the mon- it has been used to drag 35 people – mainly
archy and the government following the activists and journalists – to court for online
2006 coup. In the post-2014 coup, a pack- defamation. Trends such as these bring to
age of laws for a «digital economy,» aimed the forefront questions about the media-
at boosting investments and facilitating the reform agenda, who the real beneficiaries
switchover to e-services, has mainly drawn are, and how people view their relationship
attention to the increased powers that the with the media and political institutions.
state has acquired to regulate the industry.
Prior approaches to control the print and
broadcast media have been retained in – Reforms as strategies
and reinforced by – the laws on media and
Media reforms are typically understood as
strategies to challenge media monopolies,
address the negative impacts of economic
liberalization in the media sector, and
increase public access to information and
ASEAN the means of content production. They
Thailand’s animal-disease detection app involve changes and shifts in institutions,
values, and practices. These goals are there-
The majority of Thailand’s rural population engages in backyard animal fore not only confined to the media sec-
production without having sufficient knowledge of the dangerous risks tor, as they are expected to support public
posed by animal-borne diseases. The potentially devastating effects be-be- interest in a democratic society. Among the
came evident during the avian flu pandemic of 2004, which claimed dozens key indicators for the reforms are improve-
of lives in Thailand and Vietnam. Following the outbreak, former veteri-
veteri- ments in the diversity and independence of
narian Dr. Lertrak Srikitjakarn reached out to a young entrepreneur – a co- the media, people’s access to information,
founder of Opendream, Patipat Susumpow – to create an efficient animal- and freedom of expression. In countries in
disease detection system for Thailand. Opendream aims to generate social transition, reforms are often linked to politi-
progress for Thai communities through the use of modern communication
cal upheavals or changes that democratic
technologies. Sharing similar visions about community empowerment
forces use to replace repressive rules that
and civic participation, the veterinarian and the communications expert
previously controlled political activities and
cooperated to create an entirely Thai-built mobile app with the potential
the media. Yet, it is difficult to completely
to revolutionize detection and early response mechanisms in order to
dismantle the old regimes. New power-
contain zoonotic disease outbreaks in Thailand and beyond. The new app
constitutes the technological backbone of a local pilot project entitled holders sometimes negotiate and forge alli-
«Participatory One Health Disease Detection» (PODD), which started in 75 ances with different factions of the previous
sub-districts of the Chiang Mai province. The design is simple and intuitive. regimes on the grounds of ensuring conti-
In the event of suspicious cases of animal-disease outbreaks, trained vil-
vil- nuity or to prevent power-grabs. This can be
lage volunteers submit a photo through the PODD app. GPS automatically seen in the media sector, too, where legis-
tags the photo location, and the app then guides the volunteers through a lators and bureaucrats of the older regime
list of short questions relevant for the analysis. The whole process usually continue to shape policies, influence agen-
takes no longer than three minutes. All volunteer reports are immediately das, and fill in key positions in oversight
submitted to a central hub, the PODD Epicenter, where specialists immedi-
immedi- mechanisms.
ately stage a coordinated response with the volunteers, affected villagers, Indonesia and Myanmar have had dif-
and local authorities. This holistic, community-owned, and rapid-response- ferent experiences with media reforms,
driven surveillance model has won international acclaim1 and is poised to although they share similarities with
be replicated at the national and international levels. authoritarian regimes that have been in
power for several decades and experienced
sub-national conflicts. In Indonesia, after
the Asian financial crisis in 1997, a peo-
1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p057pp7w
ple’s movement led to the fall of President
Suharto and set in motion reforms that
 Rethinking Media Reform in Southeast Asia: Promoting a Participatory Approach for a More Democratic Media  Southeast Asia 13

transformed its controlled media into a were growing demands from the public as THAILAND
robust and free one, in which citizens’ free- well as businesses for freer media and less Time spent with media
dom of expression was rigorously defended. state control of key resources in resource- (average daily use)
Indonesia has been touted in the region as intensive sectors. The market approach has
Source: We Are Social
a role model for press freedom, freedom of dominated the reform agenda, which is led Singapore (2017)
expression, as well as democratic govern- by the states, in collaboration with business
ance. However, activists and journalists say interests. This often occurs at the expense

💻
that the strides made following the refor- of the marginalized and disadvantaged via
masi period, although important, have been the patronage-based, neo-liberal market
affected by challenges to political media systems that are prevalent in these societies.
ownership, the continued marginalization
of minority voices, and the recapturing of 8h 49m
oversight mechanisms by the state. The mil- Locating civil society in
Internet via pc
itary, which returned to the barracks during today’s media environment or tablet
the transition, has somewhat re-emerged as
a force through its links with today’s busi- Although most of the reforms have been
ness and political elites. top-down – mainly because of the role that
After the increased pressure on Myan- governments and legislators play in enact-
mar from international and local communi- ing or repealing policies – broader stake-
ties to open up economically and politically, holder participation could have a significant
the government had to give in and began impact on the outcome. When it comes to
adopting media reforms after 2012 to guar- the media sector, the main stakeholders are
antee its political survival. Here, observ- the media owners and journalists, whose
ers note that this opening was part of the representation has been crucial in influenc-
military regime’s plan, known as the «Seven ing policies, but who are sometimes viewed
Step Roadmap,» since the early 2000s. Cou- as having narrowly vested interests. To fill
pled with civil society’s lack of experience this gap, activist and alternative media pro-
in advocating for legal changes and their jects have taken advantage of the various
mistrust of political institutions, it explains technologies, online and offline, to push
how the military regime came to direct and back against what they see as moves that
dominate the media-reform agenda. The would undermine democracy and freedoms.
subsequent election of the National League These include the use of the internet to cre-
for Democracy in 2015 inspired hope for ate online discussions and news in all three

mobilephone
greater openings and freedoms, but these countries. Broad-based civil society coali-
developments have been put on the back tions have been formed to present alterna-
burner. tive draft legislation and campaign against
Thailand has also witnessed a democra- bad laws. These include the formation of
tization of the media sector as well as politi- a network of community radio stations, 4h 14m
cal changes since the 1990s, but many of the democratizing the airwaves in Indonesia Internet via
gains have been lost since the 2014 military and Thailand, and campaigning to reform mobile phone
coup. Talks of reforms today are concen- the telecommunications law in Myanmar,
trated in the hands of the military, which which is one of the few examples there of a
draws its legitimacy from its loyalty to the social movement in the media sector.
monarchy. There are lessons that can be learned
Many of the changes affecting the from the experiences of reforms in the

🗪
media – especially those involving large region. For example, the «highs» of the social
investments for the broadcasting and tel- movement in Thailand took a drastic turn
ecommunications sectors – began even when growing political divisions developed
before the historic political upheavals in in the 2000s (popularly described as the
2h 48m
Southeast Asia, which continue to form pro-people «red shirts» versus the royalists
policymaking today. A wave of privatiza- «yellow shirts»), making it difficult to form
Social media
tion since the late 1980s – even in military- alliances or solidarity across civil society to
run Myanmar (as it was known until 1989) focus on the common cause of demanding

📺
– included the media industry. After years rights-based policies for both the legacy and
of being under the control of the state, the digital media. Fragmented identities are not
«markets» were opened to private compa- unique to Thailand, as other societies also
nies, though most were known to be close grapple with this issue. The fault lines in
to the power centers in earlier times. By discussions about the crisis in Rakhine State 2h 26m
the time the internet was introduced, there in Myanmar also point to a reform process Television
14 Southeast Asia 
Asia Rethinking Media Reform in Southeast Asia: Promoting a Participatory Approach for a More Democratic Media

that may have ignored existing tensions in some of the pitfalls of a state-dominated
society. These are also reflected by and in reform process, as seen in Thailand and
the media – whether through journalism Myanmar.
content or social media interactions – and So far, we have seen few, if any, changes
in the ways people use and create meaning in the regulatory frameworks, which has pri-
using different media technologies. In Indo- oritized the public’s interest in democratic
nesia, many NGOs from the post-reformasi processes, since we have entered the new
era have struggled due to the lack of inter- millennium. Instead, the spaces for debates
national funds that once supported their and legitimate criticism are shrinking fast,
work, as aid institutions shifted their atten- despite – and because of – the regulatory
tion toward strengthening the state and its changes taking place that affect the media.
role in democratization. This affected civil Whether it is the news media, mobile phone
society’s capacity to monitor the imple- services, or social media, the primary focus
mentation of laws and ability to quickly and ought to be how best these can facilitate
effectively respond to attempts at derailing dialogues about democratization in the
progressive elements in the reformed laws. three countries – and across the region. It is
But activists are optimistic that the online encouraging to see that civil society actors
spaces, although at risk, have allowed for have responded to the public’s increased
mobilization and advocacy to take place exposure to online and mobile communi-
without the costs associated with NGOs. In cations and have facilitated such dialogues.
Myanmar, the finite nature of media assis- In Thailand, this role is played by news
tance could also leave many civil society sites such as Prachatai and Thai Publica;
groups and independent media organiza- Media Inside Out, which conducts media
tions that do good work to promote media monitoring; and the digital rights group
literacy in the lurch. Thai Netizen Network. In Myanmar, sev-
eral organizations that focus on freedom
of expression and digital rights have been
Rethinking approaches to active in encouraging people’s participa-
reforms tion in campaigns, producing counter-­
narratives to hate speech, and using data
Reforms in these countries will only make and online tools to check on governance.
sense if we can strike a balance between the They include PEN Myanmar, Myanmar
opportunities that arise from the growth of ICT for Development Organisation, and
media spaces and technologies, and the his- Phandeeyar. Indonesia’s journalists’ group,
torical and structural constraints that have Aliansi Jurnalis Independen, works with
created the gap between those who own informal networks such as Safenet, a vol-
the media and those who use it. Negotia- unteer-driven initiative to monitor online
tions related to the reform agenda usually freedoms, and the Press Council to promote
involve those who have access to the pro- press freedom and freedom of expression.
cess and hold some power within the com- In the meantime, netizens are quick to use
munities or societies they represent. Across online spaces to support those targeted for
the three countries, people who come from criminal defamation online.
different geographical locations, gender At the end of the day, the individual has
backgrounds, and minority identities are the ability to access and produce informa-
excluded, but a more democratic media tion and engage in conversations that mat-
environment could offer them opportu- ter to him or her over any platform, freely
nities for expression, engagement, and and securely. Reforms in the media sector
empowerment. Ideally, reforms that would need to place the people at the heart of the
bring about meaningful changes should agenda, as this will inevitably sustain the
allow for the participation of a wide range growth of these technologies and foster a
of stakeholders, including state institutions, healthy democracy. 
legislators, media businesses, and civil soci-
ety. The multistakeholder model used for
global internet governance is relevant for
discussions and strategies in media reforms
because of the diverse and networked
nature of the media today. It is a relatively
new concept in the traditional media sector,
but its application could help in avoiding
 Dealing with the Past: Engaging in the Present  Cambodia 15

Dealing with the Past: Engaging in

the Present
App-learning on Khmer Rouge History:
An Internet-based Multimedia Application
Duong Keo and Sopheap Chea

Many young Cambodians have very little

knowledge about the horrors and atroci-
atroci- challenge. In Cambodia, about 70 percent
ties of the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime. of the total population is under 30 years old
This dark chapter of Cambodian history is and does not know much about what hap-
pened under the Khmer Rouge regime. Thus,
often not discussed by older generations
encouraging them to learn about Khmer
and could thus disappear from collective
Rouge history – facilitated by relevant and
memory. In order to not let people forget, engaging tools in their search for the truth
the Bophana Center developed a multime-
multime - – is crucial for a social transformation of
dia app that provides free access to these Cambodia.
historical events. Instead of relying on In order to respond to the fast pace
their parents or schoolbooks, young Cam-
Cam- of technology and to reach more youth in
bodians can now use the Khmer Rouge Cambodia, the Bophana Center success-
History App to inform themselves about fully developed an internet-based applica-
tion to teach Khmer Rouge history through
their country’s history during this period.
smart devices. «App-learning on Khmer
This could help to end the silence about
Rouge History» (KR-App) is the title of a
this regime in Cambodian society. project that produces multimedia applica-
tions such as written articles, films, photos,
The Khmer Rouge took power on April 17, audios, artworks, and interactive elements.
1975, which was day one of their regime, Between late July and the end of September
which lasted 3 years, 8 months, and 20 days. 2017, the app was downloaded more than
During this time, the Khmer Rouge forced 2,000 times on Android and iOS platforms.
people to work extremely hard, provided With its aim to reach young adults, the
little food, and offered no proper medical Bophana Center signed a Memorandum of
treatment in addition to confining people Understanding with the Ministry of Educa-
Duong Keo is a researcher/writer
within specific areas. There were extralegal tion, Youth and Sports to endorse the KR- at the Bophana Center and a
executions of civilians, soldiers, cadres, and App as a supplementary tool for students to co-author of the KR-App. He
graduated from Chulalongkorn
party members who were accused of being learn history. The project is also a proposed
University with a master’s degree
enemies of Angkar. «Sweep Clean» was the reparation project of ECCC Case 002/02, in Southeast Asian Studies.
term that the Khmer Rouge used to elimi- under the «guarantee of non-repetition» Both authors hold critical views
of knowledge-sharing in the
nate what they called «enemies burrowing measure. The project is funded by the Euro- digital era: With information from
from inside.» After the fall of the Khmer pean Union (via UNOPS) and The Rei Foun- different sources being thrown
Rouge on January 7, 1979, it was estimated dation Limited. onto various internet platforms,
recognizing valid sources is
that 1.7 million people had perished. difficult and makes some users
In recent years, international, govern- susceptible to manipulation.
mental, and nongovernmental institutions Advantages of the KR-App
have been working to raise awareness, heal Sopheap Chea is the executive di-
the trauma of survivors, and prevent any The main advantages of the KR-App are rector of the Bophana Audiovisual
such event from recurring ever again. How- its innovative multimedia, validated and Resource Center and a project
manager for the KR-App project.
ever, raising the awareness of young Cam- standardized information, and user- He has worked with the Bophana
bodians about this period has been a great friendly learning tools. Center for more than a decade.
16 Cambodia  Dealing with the Past: Engaging in the Present
Cambodia

The contents of the KR-App are care- They were especially enthusiastic regard-
fully developed through academic and sci- ing reading texts and watching/listening to
entific research. The valid sources for each audiovisual presentations. Many students
article include legal documentation from said that using the app inspired conversa-
the Khmer Rouge Tribunal – or Extraordi- tions with their parents. The main reason for
nary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia talking to their parents and relatives was to
(ECCC) – archival documents from different compare the content of the app to the expe-
institutions, witness interviews, survivors’ riences their parents and relatives had dur-
memoirs, academic books and articles, and ing that time.
other sources. The citations for each source The KR-App offers a wider platform
are also included in the articles. Additionally, that includes multimedia and interactive
in order to ensure the quality and authen- tools for users in addition to written articles.
ticity of the articles, a Scientific Committee Sixty-five short documentary films and vid-
was formed. The eight Scientific Committee eos of witnesses’ testimonies are included,
members are Cambodian academics and along with around 1,300 photos, 15 audio
experts in Khmer Rouge history from the files, and numerous artworks. Within each
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the lesson, the application normally consists of
ECCC, the History Department at the Royal videos (testimony or documentary), photos
University of Phnom Penh, the Documenta- and audio files, which help users to visual-
tion Center of Cambodia, and the Center for ize and understand the history of the Demo-
Khmer Studies. At least once a month, the cratic Kampuchea – the state controlled by
Scientific Committee members meet with a the Khmer Rouge. For some images that
project team (lead writer, project manager, cannot be found in archives, the project
IT team, interface designer) to approve the employed artists and filmmakers to draw,
written content and interface design. New sculpt, photograph, and film objects and
content developed by the writers is intro- images to enhance the text-based content
duced and debated, improved, and/or cor- of the application.
rected through consensus or compromise. On average, Cambodians read less than
Moreover, writing teams regularly consult one book a year. Encouraging them to read
with each committee member before and history is very challenging. At the same time,
after the meetings. Therefore, the articles according to Internet World Stats in March
in the KR-App have been checked and 2017, one-quarter of the Cambodian popu-
approved by Khmer Rouge experts, giving lation accesses the internet, and the major-
each article academic and standardized val- ity of them are young people under 30, who
idation. Based on interviews with randomly spend much time using their smart devices.
selected students who attended a presen- Thus, learning history through the KR-App
tation at the Royal University of Phnom is an applicable tool that fits the needs of
Penh, each person gave positive feedback. young people. The written texts, videos,

CAMBODIA
Snapshot
Source: we are social Singapore (2017)

Total population:
21 % urban 79 % rural
USERGROUP
15,950,000

🌐
Internet users:
45 % internet penetration
7,160,000

🗪
Active Facebook users:
31 % Facebook penetration
4,900,000
 Dealing with the Past: Engaging in the Present  Cambodia 17

CAMBODIA
Facebook age profiles Education levels of
Source: Digital Statistics Cambodia 2017 facebook users

55 + 4 %
Master's degree 690,000
35–54 10 %

25–34 32 % College grad 1,400,000

18–24 44 % In college 690,000

High school grad 900,000

In high school 670,000

13–17 11 %

photos, and audio files are also specially Dealing with Cambodia’s
designed to fit the target audience of high past, contributing to the
school students and first-year university
students. The KR-App aims to deliver his- future
tory directly to the young generation, and
thereby reinforce the national education The development of the KR-App plays a
curriculum for high school and first-year significant role in sharing knowledge about
university students. Young smartphone the Khmer Rouge history with young people
users can easily access articles, films, pho- and fostering inter-generational dialogue.
tos, audio files, artworks, and interactive When young people understand what hap-
elements to learn about the horrors com- pened with the Khmer Rouge and why, they
mitted during the Khmer Rouge regime. A will have sufficient knowledge to help pre-
subject that was rarely talked about and vent atrocities from happening again in the
hushed up at home has now become an future.
open source of information for everybody. After completing the development
Cambodians now have the opportunity to of the KR-App, the next plan is to bring
engage more deeply with their own history the application to the public, especially
by using mobile technology. young people. The outreach teams will
Based on the cooperation between the tour schools in different provinces to let
Bophana Center and the Ministry of Edu- students know about the application and
cation, Youth and Sports, the KR-App was that they can install it and learn history
created as a supplementary tool to support by themselves. The application consists
the national education curriculums of high of eight comprehensive chapters, starting
schools and universities in Cambodia and with the historical background of the com-
allows students to engage more deeply with munist movement in Cambodia, Cambodia
history. At the start of the new school term under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, and its
in 2017, 100 high school history teachers ­aftermath.
were invited to attend the training work- After using the KR-App, young peo-
shop about how to use the app in class. The ple are expected to explore more personal
outreach team met with around 30,000 stu- stories from their parents or relatives who
dents along with the trained teachers. had experienced the Khmer Rouge. This
will contribute to more intergenerational
dialogue in Cambodian families. Learning
about this tragic history and listening to
18 Cambodia  Dealing with the Past: Engaging in the Present
Cambodia

interviewees’ testimonies in the KR-App will standardized content, thereby contributing

encourage young users to find out about toward sharing broader knowledge about
more stories from the survivors within their Khmer Rouge history, fostering intergen-
own families. Thus, the app has the power erational dialogue, and guaranteeing that
to break the silence and create more oppor- history will not repeat itself. Users can now
tunities toward intergenerational dialogue. install the KR-App from both the Play Store
The innovative multimedia applica- (Android system) and App Store (iOS system)
tion consists of accurate and standardized by searching for «Khmer Rouge history.»
information validated by Cambodian and
international experts. It has the potential to
raise awareness about justice, human rights,
and peace, and to foster intergenerational
dialogue. Young users are the KR-App’s
1
The imprecise term «Angkar» (The Organization)
allowed the Communist Party of Kampuchea to keep
main audience and are the country’s future information secret about its members, existence, and
­leaders. history.
The KR-App also plays a role in healing
2
David Chandler, History of Cambodia, 4th ed. (Chiang
Mai: Silkworm Books, 2008).
survivors’ suffering, as many people have 3
According to reports from the Documentation Center
shared their personal stories. With young of Cambodia, students receive little knowledge
about Khmer Rouge history and, even after training
generations recognizing what happened
workshops, they hardly understand why it happened.
during the Khmer Rouge, survivors’ psycho- Please see: Stephen Wu and Steven Chang, Genocide
logical suffering can be healed. Forty wit- Education in Cambodia Teaching of the History
of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979); Report
ness testimonies were produced and added
Classroom Forum at Bak Touk High School on July
to the app after the team talked to nearly 100 8, 2016 (Phnom Penh: Sleuk Rith Institute, 2016); Ly
survivors. Among those witnesses, there are Sok-Kheang and Dy Khamboly, Genocide Education
in Cambodia, Quality Control on the Teaching of «A
several from the Civil Parties of the ECCC. History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)»;
Those Civil Parties members could ben- Report from Kratie and Mondul Kiri province, June
efit from the KR-App by participating in the 6-13, 2012 (Phnom Penh: Documentation Center of
Cambodia, 2012).
development of the content and contribut- 4
Cited by Phnom Penh Post, UNESCO claimed that
ing their stories to a multimedia source. nearly four-fifths of Cambodian adults still lack any
The KR-App provides an innovative reading habit. Room to Read also reported that Cam-
bodians read only 1.5 books per year.
multimedia learning tool with accurate and

CAMBODIA
Access to mobile phones and use of Facebook
Source: Media Habits and Information Sources of Youth in Cambodia 2014 (by BBC Media
Action); Research Report: Mobile Phones and Internet Use in Cambodia 2016; Research
Report: Mobile Phones and Internet Use in Cambodia 2016

mobilephone
96 %
mobilephone
48 % 40 %
% of young Cambodians % of Cambodian phone % of phone users
(15-24 years old) with overall users having used or having their own
access to mobile phones using Facebook Facebook account

41 % 55 % 33 % 47 %

 You Are What You Share: How Social Media Is Changing Afghan Society  Afghanistan 19

You Are What You Share: How Social

Media Is Changing Afghan Society
Sayed Asef Hossaini

Millions of Afghanistan’s citizens benefit

from high-speed internet services, and their own content, whereas classic media
many of them use social media networks forms, such as printed newspapers, radio,
to share their views and concerns about and television, require far more resources
and complex processing to be produced.
political issues. Especially for women,
Moreover, it allows the user to create his
social media provides something that
or her own personal networks and share
rarely exists in Afghanistan’s public life: information globally and instantaneously.
open spaces for controversial discussions The low costs to create and obtain indi-
and room to express opinions and desires. vidually tailored information make social
Information technology allows for an media especially attractive for a war-torn
exchange of ideas in a way that was not country. Even though the media landscape
possible before, thereby contributing to a has developed since the fall of the Taliban,
more democratized society. Taliban groups continue to intimidate and
attack those journalists who report about
war crimes, in particular rape and topics
After the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001, that relate to what the Taliban has labeled
broad access to digital telecommunication the «breaching of religious norms.» Conse-
services became a reality in Afghanistan, quently, the physical production of good
bringing with it substantial social changes. media outlets is often nearly close to impos-
Millions of Afghans today are connected sible or associated with unbearable risks for
and equipped with mobile phones and journalists. By contrast, social media allows
other mobile devices, allowing them to for someone to report on topics that might
access information as never before and incur anger by some groups while staying
engage in sociopolitical discourse. anonymous at the same time. Furthermore,
It has been 15 years since the democ- in a mountainous country such as Afghani-
Sayed Asef Hossaini was born
ratization process started to take root in stan, with its diverse ethnic, linguistic, and in 1980 in Balkh, Afghanistan,
Afghanistan. One outcome of this process tribal cultures, which often prevent people and grew up as a refugee in Iran.
After the collapse of the Taliban,
was the establishment of social media, from becoming more interconnected, social
he returned to Afghanistan and
which impacts the everyday lives of indi- media has the potential to unite different studied sociology and philosophy
viduals in Afghanistan. But has social media cultural groups. It can overcome those geo- at Kabul University. He ran for a
parliamentary seat in the 2005
also played a role in transforming Afghani- graphic and cultural barriers and include elections as an independent
stan into a more diverse and democratic people in discussions who live in remote candidate. In 2008, he received
society? and inaccessible areas. Nowadays, people a German scholarship to study
public policy at the Willy Brandt
Since the introduction of 3G internet share their concerns about issues such as School of Public Policy at the
services in 2012, the number of internet the negative effects of administrative cor- University of Erfurt. From 2011
users has increased considerably. Today, ruption on their lives or communicate their to 2016, he conducted his doctoral
research on power structures in
more than 10 percent of the population is concerns regarding political events such as Afghanistan’s rural communities
online and partakes in social media activi- elections. at the same school. Currently, he
ties, up from 0.1 percent in 2004. Social is working as an online editor at
Deutsche Welle. He has published
media easily enables its users not only to five books, including poetry
receive information, but also to produce anthologies and political notes.
20 Afghanistan  You Are What You Share: How Social Media Is Changing Afghan Society
Afghanistan

ethnicity, local region, religion, community,

Who are the users in or other cultural characteristic they identify
Afghanistan, and which apps with. Young Afghans often use the internet
to inform themselves about specific lifestyle
do they use? trends. Via fashion blogs, they learn about
global consumer trends and get in touch
Hardly surprising, most of the users belong with what is happening outside of Afghani-
to the generation of digital natives. These stan. As most Afghans do not travel interna-
are young people who grew up in the age tionally, the internet opens up enormous
of the internet and have been exposed to opportunities to gain insights into other
information technologies all of their lives. worlds. In particular, those users who have
Most users have a certain level of basic edu- more financial resources or work for inter-
cation and are more likely to come from national NGOs or governmental organiza-
urban middle-class families, which have tions modify their lifestyles with an eye on
comparatively more access to smartphones up-to-date trends in the West. This is a gen-
and technological devices. However, there eral trend. Within the last decade, Western
are also a growing number of internet users fashion rapidly emerged in the bigger cit-
in rural areas. ies, and to some extent in more remote and
As in most countries around the world, rural areas as well.
Facebook is the most popular social media
platform in Afghanistan. Having grown rap-
idly in the wake of 3G internet services, the Developing individual
number of Afghanistan-based subscribers identities
reached 2,600,000 in 2016, with 86 percent
being male and 14 percent female. Before Afghan users not only use social media to
the construction of optical fiber grids in the consume and get new fashion inspiration,
late 2000s, social media was limited to a very but also to re-create and reshape personal
manageable number of online chat rooms identities. Open platforms and private chat
and blogs. Weblogs were the first form of rooms create spaces to exchange and pur-
social media, which social activists still sue mutual passions. People with similar
use today to promote political issues. The interests chat about their hobbies and join
founding of web hosts in the neighboring forces to realize their common goals. This
country Iran paved the way for the success may sound banal, but in a society that is
of blogs in Afghanistan. Due to the grow- mainly based on family and community
ing popularity and proliferation of weblogs, ties, open exchanges with other people
social bookmarks and newsgroups emerged about your dreams and interests are very
AFGHANISTAN to provide updates about websites in Pashtu, rare. As a result, the use of social media
Facebook usage Dari, and English, as well as to highlight and encourages many who have developed a
Source: We Are Social Singapore rate selected articles. Sometimes the man- taste for fashion or other interests to high-
(2017) agers of these portals also contribute their light their individuality and express their
own editorials. These aspects make social preferences among like-minded peers. The
Percentage of Facebook users media attractive for young Afghans, as most remarkable sign of this development
declared as female: they assess the various features of different is the penchant of many social media users
14 % applications and develop individual usage to choose a desired surname or create an
strategies. For example, Facebook is used individual nickname for their accounts.
by Afghans for reaching the public or large Creating an account provides the chance
groups of people, whereas WhatsApp, Viber, to practice individuality, since Afghan ID
and Snapchat are mostly used for bilateral, papers traditionally identify a person by her
closed-group communications. These apps or his father’s name instead of a surname.
are especially popular among women in While nicknames expressed ideological or
Afghanistan, as they use the apps to com- nationalist notions during the civil war of
municate privately with male friends. the 1980s and 1990s, chosen names nowa-
days are affiliated with more cultural, literal,
or historical concepts, such as Farhang (cul-
The internet as an access ture), Khorshid (sun), or Meetra (the god of
tool to Western fashion light).
Percentage of Facebook users
declared as male: Overall, Afghan users create and share indi-
86 % vidual news items that are linked to their
 You Are What You Share: How Social Media Is Changing Afghan Society  Afghanistan 21

attacks or missing infrastructure, such as

Mobilization platforms for public transport, cafés, or meeting rooms.
sociopolitical activism
The sociopolitical activities of Afghan inter- Advertising warfare
net users are mostly expressed in the form
of debates about current policies or the During their regime, the Taliban strictly
overall security situation. Discussions are opposed any trappings of modernity, such
not limited to supporters of the government as photography, TV, music, and sports.
or the opposition. Moreover, the topics and Recently, though, they have recognized
participants in these discussions represent the benefits of social media for their war
the inherent complexities of Afghan poli- propaganda and now use Twitter to claim
tics, covering ethnicity, religion, sectari- responsibility for attacks. Taliban groups
anism, modernity proponents, as well as
conservative and traditionalist actors. All of
these sides engage in social media debates
and use the web as an operative platform
to mobilize supporters, extend networks,
and organize collective actions. One exam-
ple is the protest movement Uprising for
AFGHANISTAN
Change (Rastakhiz-e Taghir), which was
created as a response to the massive sui- The digital revolution comes to Afghanistan
cide attack on May 31, 2017, in Kabul – an
attack that claimed hundreds of victims. The telecommunications landscape stagnated in Afghanistan for many
Within the scope of Uprising for Change, a years due to war and civil strife. The only (state-owned) television channel
huge number of protesters met in Kabul city was put out of commission after the Taliban took control of Kabul in 1996.
Fixed-line phone services were sparse, and internet connections were
and called for government reforms to stop
non-existent. Although conflict is still rife, the telecommunications sector
the violence. Sadly, security forces opened
has begun to flourish. By the end of the Taliban regime, internet users num-
num-
fire and killed at least five of the protesters.
bered in the hundreds; today it is more than 2.2 million. The state-owned
The Enlightenment Movement (Jonbesh-e
television channel went back on air and, with private enterprises becoming
Rowshanayi) is another protest movement,
involved, the number of channels has ballooned to more than 90. The lack
which was organized online by young, of fixed-line infrastructure and the cost of installing one led Afghans to
educated Hazara, an ethnic minority that adopt the usage of mobile phones, which now have an 80 percent penetra-
penetra-
mostly follows Shiism in Afghanistan. The tion rate. The expansion of telecommunications systems became a focal
movement accused the government of the point for driving economic development. An increasing number of Afghans
irresponsible implementation of an energy are turning to online bazaars for everything from electronics to vehicles
project in Hazarjat in central Afghanistan. and houses. For the young and educated, especially women, job searching
Both of these protest movements broadly is also done online, with email being the preferred form of communica-
communica-
benefited from social media, as they man- tion, given the absence of a well-functioning postal service. Social media
aged to mobilize a large group of dem- apps have also established a foothold in the country, with subscribers to
onstrators, which would not have been Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, and other platforms increasing
possible through word of mouth. Against day by day. Their presence is aiding progress in civil society, allowing peo-
peo-
the background that it is too dangerous in ple to follow their political interests, organize protests, mobilize strikes,
Afghanistan to spend much time in public and voice their opinions on various platforms. However, not everyone has
distributing flyers or putting up posters, the welcomed this development. Having faced frequent protests concerning the
role of social media as a sociopolitical and deterioration of security and governmental corruption, including electoral
fraud, conservative lawmakers have tried a few times to limit social media
cultural mobilizer is a clear asset. In this
access. One example is the recent attempt to ban WhatsApp and Telegram.
regard, social media also presents an oppor-
News of this spread swiftly over social media, and the Ministry of Com-
Com-
tunity for collective humanitarian action.
munication and Information quickly backed down after a strong public
For instance, after terrorist attacks, hospi-
outcry denouncing the attack on freedom of expression. The government,
tals, doctors, and private people made calls
though, is embracing other aspects of the digital revolution. A «one-stop
for blood donations for the victims on social shop» (Asaan Khedmat) for common public services, government services
media platforms. Activists directly posted for businesses, and auxiliary services from the private sector has been
the needed blood groups and the addresses established. The goal is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness with
of the hospitals. Furthermore, online plat- which public services are delivered and enhance responsiveness to the
forms are also an alternative when meeting needs of Afghan citizens and businesses. Its implementation is the first
in public spaces is considered dangerous step toward e-governance, greater transparency, and accountability. The
or unfavorable due to the risk of suicide digital landscape in Afghanistan has a lot of catching up to do, but it is
making steady progress.
22 Afghanistan  You Are What You Share: How Social Media Is Changing Afghan Society
Afghanistan

also use social media channels to post vid- for decades, due to ongoing conflicts and
eos of attacks to attract followers and recruit wars. The understanding of Afghanistan's
new members. In October 2016, for exam- role in global politics, culture, and consum-
ple, the Taliban recorded a drone attack on erism has thus grown. Internet access now
the Helmand Police Headquarters. Taliban evokes a feeling of connectedness to a world
supporters generally cannot be recognized and life outside of a war-torn Afghanistan.
through their profile accounts, as they use This may lead to more interest and open-­
aliases and photos of pretty women. How- mindedness about new lifestyles, values,
ever, their open comments show support and opinions.
for the Taliban and other insurgency groups. Second, social media offers a private
The demonstration of support for the sphere for people to communicate about
Afghan National Army (ANA) shows another issues that cannot be addressed in public
relation between warfare and social media. life. Too often, the parents or close family
There are a number of photos on online members of young Afghans do not allow
platforms that show women presenting a private meetings between friends, espe-
red rose to ANA soldiers to encourage them cially if these friends are of the opposite sex.
and thank them for their sacrifices. The many social restrictions – especially
that women face – leave little room for one
to express their personality. Social media,
How has social media in this case, can provide a kind of digital
changed Afghan society? safe haven for young people to communi-
cate and freely explore aspects of their own
Social media has become the first source identities. In a society where family comes
of information for many people in Afghani- before the individual, social media is clearly
stan. Whether Afghans are interested in an asset.
the recent terror attacks or the latest fash- Keeping in mind the difficult gender
ion trends, they will first visit social media relations in Afghanistan, the private sphere
pages. The availability of this information and the potential anonymity of the inter-
leads to a process of becoming more aware net offer great opportunities for women. It
of social changes. Many people in Afghani- gives them the possibility to express their
stan are now confronted with wide-ranging opinions, wishes, and goals, and to present
news that they previously were not exposed themselves to a certain distinguished pub-
to. After all, Afghanistan and its citizens lic – actions that could be life-threatening
were cut off from news and world events in the offline world. Online, they can speak

AFGHANISTAN
Snapshot
Source: We Are Social Singapore (2017)

Total population:
USERGROUP
33,770,000

Internet users:
4,010,000 12 % 🌐
Active social media users:
3,000,000 9 % 🗪
Mobile subscriptions:
mobilephone
25,200,000 75 %
 You Are What You Share: How Social Media Is Changing Afghan Society  Afghanistan 23

and comment on sensitive topics such as not a matter of course in Afghanistan. Shar-
hijabs, religion, women’s rights, abortion, ing opinions and discussions online with
sexuality, sexual harassment, and domes- people from all over the country teaches
tic violence. Apart from a small number of its users to learn about different perspec-
well-known female activists, most Afghan tives, needs, and opinions. Sociopolitically
women do not show their personal pictures active users experience fewer hierarchies in
on social media. Instead, they use Indian their interactions than they probably would
or Iranian popstar photos to hide their real if they worked in a government position or
identities. This is a safety measure, reveal- an NGO. Social media has provided space
ing that women must remain cautious, even for individualism and created more mutual
online. However, they perceive the virtual understanding through the acceptance of
sphere as being safer and interact online other standpoints. It is no exaggeration to
more than in real life. One very successful state that social media has played a criti-
online campaign initiated by women has cal role in mobilizing, empowering, shap-
been #WhereIsMyName? (Namam Kojast?). ing opinions, and influencing change in
The campaign fights for a woman’s right Afghanistan. To a certain extent, Afghani-
to have her own individual identity and to stan has even slowly changed into a more
stop identifying females only in relation to pluralistic society. Surfing social media
men. In Afghanistan, men commonly avoid pages owned by Afghan users shows that
saying the names of their mothers, sisters, experiences with this media convey values
daughters, and wives, because this is con- such as participation, joint decisions, and
sidered dishonorable. Instead, people call freedom of speech, thereby enhancing
women «mother of,» «sister of,» «wife of,» democratic debates. One can clearly learn
«daughter of.» The campaign #WhereIsMy- from this online debating culture, which
Name encourages men to use the names might well influence sociopolitical behavior
of their female family members. Another in physical life. However, the fact that there
example of this development comes from are – and will continue to be – backlashes
a film about sexual harassment in Kabul, should not be ignored. After all, hate speech,
released on social media in 2013. The film, radicalization, and online harassment are
which went viral, touches on the sexual- also part of daily social media use.
ized and disrespectful treatment of Afghan In general, young people in Afghan
women in public life, and soon sparked a society do not have a chance to assume
debate on different online channels. Thus, responsibility until they become adults.
the issue of women’s rights has a prominent For the young and politically engaged,
role in public debate, and they achieved social media can be an outlet for activism
some of their demands, for example the to direct public discourse and influence
appointment of women as ministers, the the political d ­ ecision-making processes.
passing of laws concerning sexual har- The fact that the Afghan president and
assment, and the trial of perpetrators of executive president are both active on
sexual crimes. However, it is apparent that Facebook and Twitter shows the growing
some changes, such as social behavior and importance and impact of social media in
perceptions toward women’s social roles, national politics and how it is becoming
require long-term activism. a relevant sphere for the development of
political discourse. Governmental stake-
holders seem to have recognized how
How has social media best to reach out to young people, who
contributed to democracy constitute the biggest voting group in the
country. In this context, social media, espe-
and pluralism? cially for women, poses an important step
toward democratic thinking and inclusion.
Afghanistan is looking back on four decades
of war. It would be naive to assume that new
information technologies alone could unite
divided communities and heal the deep
wounds of wars. Yet, there are perceptible
changes in the behaviors of Afghan citizens
today. The better access to information, the
establishment of communication platforms,
as well as the creation of social networks are
24 Pakistan  «Restricting Women’s Space on the Internet Is a Violation of Their Rights»
Pakistan

«Restricting Women’s Space on the Internet

Is a Violation of Their Rights»
An interview with Nighat Dad by Fabian Heppe

Women in Pakistan have long faced sexual harassment in public spaces. Now, with the
rise of new information technologies, it has followed them into the online world. Paki-
stani activists such as Nighat Dad, founder of the Digital Rights Foundation, are helping
to make the internet safer and more accessible for women. In this interview, she talks
about women’s experiences online and how virtual abuse can be countered.

Last year, Pakistan’s first social media star, Qandeel Baloch, was brutally murdered by
her brother for «staining» the family’s honor. She was known in Pakistan for speaking
out on women’s rights and fearlessly expressing her sexuality on the internet. Why did
she have to die?

Qandeel Baloch was a social media celebrity who first received wide
recognition when she auditioned for Pakistan Idol in 2013. Her
audition quickly went viral, and she became one of the top 10 most
searched persons on the internet in Pakistan. She used her media pre-
sence to challenge the norms of a typical patriarchal society by att-
empting to claim her space online and by commenting on «women’s
position in Pakistan.» Even though she had the following of millions
Nighat Dad is executive director on the internet, she still faced online harassment, against which she
of the Digital Rights Foundation. was particularly helpless. She was eventually killed because a male-
She is an accomplished lawyer, dominated society could not handle an outspoken woman who dared
a human rights activist, and a
pioneer in the campaign for open to shatter the glass ceilings of patriarchy.
internet access in Pakistan and
around the world. She is a 2017
Qandeel Baloch’s case is not one-of-a-kind. A study you conducted found that 40 per-
per-
TED Global Fellow, one of TIME
magazine’s Next Generation cent of women in Pakistan face online harassment.
Leaders, and a recipient of the At-
lantic Council Freedom Award and
In Pakistan, women are told not to speak up about the abuse they
the Human Rights Tulip Award.
She is fascinated by the enormous face because of «what people will think.» The public image of female
opportunities that the digital family members and their exclusive affiliation with a family’s honor
world offers, but she dislikes how
the most marginalized are being
makes them even more vulnerable to online abuse. With more than
even more suppressed and silenced 136 million mobile phone users and 34 million internet users in Paki-
in the virtual realm. stan, online spaces have today become the new crucible of women’s
safety. Their fear of being subjected to more abuse if they speak out
Fabian Heppe is a project manager about an unpleasant comment that they received online takes the
for the Asia department at the front seat in their experiences on the internet. Qandeel’s murder is a
Heinrich Böll Foundation. He
is fascinated by sport apps that real-life example of this, and it shows that online harassment is linked
track his mileage and average with offline consequences. This is why women need special protection
speed when he goes for a run. At on the internet. It has been decades and centuries since women have
the same time, he is easily an-
noyed when his apps tell him that been free to speak their minds and hearts without fear of getting a hate
he did not reach his weekly goals. message from a random person, either online or offline.
 «Restricting Women’s Space on the Internet Is a Violation of Their Rights»  Pakistan 25

With 75 to 80 percent of the users online being men, the internet in Pakistan is masculi-
masculi-
ne. How does this affect women’s use of the internet?

Women have consistently been denied access to public spaces

because men cannot control their «masculinity» in public. As the use
of technology rose, women were also barred from using the internet,
because men already occupied the virtual spaces before women had
access to it. One reason why women are constantly the subject of
online abuse is precisely because they are a minority on the internet.
Pervasive online harassment takes away women’s will to voice their
honest opinions in virtual spaces. For instance, I know a girl who only
mentioned the fact that her hijab did not protect her from being haras-
sed online, and she was immediately attacked by men until she finally
decided to seek help. Unfortunately, these examples are not unique in
the online realm. The data I collected indicates that more than one-
third of women do not feel comfortable online and cannot share their
pictures on the internet. This leads many women to self-censor, inclu-
ding those who would otherwise have the potential to play a part in
bringing change to society.

As an online activist for women rights, you yourself have had such experiences and are
exposed to online harassment on a daily basis.

Yes. I, too, was one of those women who was at first barred from using
the internet. As I began to support victims of cyber harassment, I recei-
ved numerous death threats. When I decided to take some time away
from the Internet and deactivate my social media accounts, in the eyes
of random online men this was regarded as an attention-seeking move
and they began body-shaming me. To some extent, I am, even today,
after all this time, still scared of the threats I receive online.

Yet, laws against electronic violence against women exist in Pakistan, and men can be
prosecuted if they harass women online. Why do these legal measures not help increase
the safety of women online?

The problem is that a vast majority of women do not know that these PAKISTAN
laws exist. Our research found that a staggering 72 percent of women Total number of
are unaware of any such laws. Moreover, 70 percent of the respondents monthly active Face-
said that they have never reported online harassment to law enforce- book users:
ment, and 47 percent of the whole of respondents of the report said 31 million
that the law enforcers would not take the report seriously. This par- Source: We Are Social Singapore
ticular finding indicates the stigma around reporting online abuse. (2017)
Young women told us that the Federal Investigation Agency, which is
responsible for handling cybercrimes under the law, has blamed the 22 %
women for being harassed and reportedly asked them to stop using
social media.

Your findings seem to contradict the initial promise of the internet for the disruption of
old power structures and greater individual freedom. What role do new technologies
78 %
really play in overcoming old patriarchal structures in societies such as Pakistan?

Although there are setbacks for women’s digital rights, the internet
has nevertheless proven to be an extremely useful platform for people,
regardless of their gender and sexual orientation. Restricting a major
chunk of the population from accessing it is a violation of their rights.
Throughout the course of my work, I have come across many women
who are running proper businesses online. The internet opens a win-
dow to a flood of information for them. These are examples of how
26 Pakistan  «Restricting Women’s Space on the Internet Is a Violation of Their Rights»
Pakistan

PAKISTAN
Cyber harassment
Source: Cyber Harassment Helpline six-month report December 2016

Have you ever reported online harass- Why do you think that women do not
ment to a law enforcement agency? report online harassment?

Did not think that It is a waste

it helps: 11 % of time: 9 % It is embarrassing: 45 %
Yes: 15 %
Don't think it is It is not taken
necessary: 4 % seriously: 47 %

No: 70 %

they empower themselves within patriarchal structures. In a society

such as Pakistan, where women are not encouraged to be one of the
breadwinners and were once stopped from acquiring advanced know-
ledge on any subject, women are doing exactly the opposite of what
is expected of them. They are now using logical arguments against
every illogical slur that men throw at them. The national and contro-
versial discussions around Qandeel Baloch’s death show that things
are slowly changing.

Qandeel Baloch’s murder was widely condemned by people around the globe. Did the
worldwide outcry over her death change the debate about women’s use of the internet in
Pakistan?

It’s really unfortunate that a woman had to die to ignite a debate about
women’s safety on the internet in Pakistan. Qandeel’s death made
people more aware of the offline consequences of online harassment.
While a lot of people mourned her death, policymakers moved to
pass legislation aimed at curbing online harassment and criminali-
zing honor killings. The government passed the Prevention of Electro-
nic Crimes Act in August 2016 to criminalize hate speech and online
harassment. Qandeel’s death particularly affected me a lot, so Digital
Rights Foundation set up Pakistan’s first Cyber Harassment Helpline
with the few resources we had. It is my attempt at extending support
to those who are in need. I often wonder, had I moved to establish
the helpline earlier, would Qandeel have called for help as well? This
helpline is my way of paying tribute to Qandeel and the legacy that she
left behind – a free woman.

What needs to be done to render the internet in Pakistan more safe for women?

In my opinion, there is a need to properly implement the cybercrime

laws in the country, along with gender-sensitizing training for the peo-
ple handling the complaints of online abuse. More importantly, there
is a need to build a support system for survivors and victims of online
abuse, because without a network of support, they will not be able to
perform even their day-to-day activities. I believe that women need to
empower each other in order for them to counter the abuse that they
face online and offline. 
 Pakistan’s Cybercrime Law: Boon or Bane?  Pakistan 27

Pakistan’s Cybercrime Law: Boon or Bane?

Farieha Aziz

The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act

2016 was the subject of much resistance self-satisfying justification that the amend-
and, as a result, forced debate. Dubbed ments would check abuse allowed it to sail
a controversial piece of legislation that through the Senate – the upper house of
parliament – which enjoyed an opposition
would severely impact citizens’ rights
majority. After the rights and business com-
to expression and privacy, it drew criti-
criti-
munity called out the opposition parties on
cism from civil society, industry, media, this, there was a change of heart when the
and the political parties in opposition. bill came up for a vote in the lower house of
Cited as the need of the hour to counter parliament. Though the opposition parties
rampant online harassment and terrorist voted against it, it was too late. The ruling
content, it was bulldozed through by the party’s two-thirds majority in the National
government in spite of resistance. This Assembly ensured that PECA would see the
piece takes stock of the debates around light of day.

the law’s passage and its implementation,

a year on since its enactment.
Why is PECA more sinister
than earlier cybercrime
On August 11, 2016, the Prevention of Elec-
tronic Crimes Act (PECA) was passed by the legislation in Pakistan?
National Assembly of Pakistan. A controver-
sial piece of legislation, PECA may go down What makes PECA markedly different from
in history as one of the most hotly debated earlier versions of (now defunct) cybercrime
laws. However, the debate was not a natu- laws is that the former laws dealt primar-
ral outcome of what a democratic legisla- ily with computer-related crimes, whereas
tive process should be. The attention PECA PECA introduced sections that criminal-
received was primarily because its authors ize speech and give authorities unchecked
and movers tried to keep the legislative pro- powers to curtail and prosecute it.
cess secretive while avoiding consultations The justification for these sections was
every step of the way. the need to bring all legislative efforts in
Resistance to making the bill public, line with the 12-point National Action Plan,
Farieha Aziz is a Karachi-based,
circulating outdated versions – even with which was issued by the government in award-winning journalist who has
parliamentarians – and then bulldozing it response to the terrorist attack on the Army received wide recognition for her
through the parliamentary committee and Public School in Peshawar in 2014, when campaign against the Prevention
of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016.
lower house of parliament were some of the more than 141 people, mostly school chil- She is a co-founder of the digital
tactics employed by the government to pre- dren, were killed. Three phrases in particu- rights and civil liberties group
vent any debate or scrutiny of the proposed lar became siren calls to rally support for the Bolo Bhi. She regularly conducts
digital safety courses on how to
law. Opposition parties, who were initially law: the need to check extremist content, protect oneself online and seeks to
fierce in their resistance, ultimately met the prosecute hate speech, and curb online har- raise awareness about the pitfalls
government halfway and agreed to lend assment of women. of the cybercrime law. She is a
contributing writer to Dawn, The
support to the bill with some amendments. One of the concerns with PECA is Express Tribune, Aurora, and
The amendments were cosmetic, but the whether, on principle, some of the powers Newsline.
28 Pakistan  Pakistan’s Cybercrime Law: Boon or Bane?
Pakistan

given to authorities should lie with them by internet users in Pakistan, placing a leg-
in the first place. For instance, Section islative and judicial function in the domain
37 of PECA gives unbridled powers to the of a single government authority.
Pakistan Telecommunications Authority Whereas Section 37 extends unchecked
(PTA) to block or remove online content, powers, other sections of PECA impose
thereby restricting the right to freedom of criminal penalties on certain kinds of
expression, as guaranteed by Article 19 of speech. Section 20 – «Offences against the
the constitution. The PTA has a history of natural dignity of a person» – introduces
censorship and making requests to foreign criminal defamation through a vaguely
platforms to block and remove content. The worded section that stipulates a three-year
specific instances of speech and content jail term and a fine that runs into the mil-
that fall within or outside the exceptions lions of rupees. Its broad language enables
listed in Article 19 are left to the sole discre- misuse to settle scores and/or take dis-
tion of an executive authority that functions sidents to task. Moreover, although pros-
directly under the government and receives ecution of the offense lies with the courts,
policy directives from the Ministry of IT and complainants can at the same time petition
Telecommunications. The PTA now has the the PTA to remove and block the content
ability to exercise usurped power to make in question. Under the law, the PTA can act
judgment calls as to how Article 19 is to be unilaterally against such content, without
interpreted and applied, and decide what first requiring a court order. This procedure
may or may not be accessed or consumed gives the state yet another tool for dealing
with content that is not palatable.

The noose tightens

In January 2017, five bloggers disappeared.
PAKISTAN The reason for their disappearance is
The safe transportation of women as a business model thought to be linked to what were anony-
mous Facebook pages, allegedly used by
them, to spread «anti-state» propaganda.
Getting around in Pakistan is not the easiest thing, as the public transport
system is fairly underdeveloped. If you take the bus, you can expect to run Soon the pages, the activity, and their
late, and taking a cab often means that you arrive soaked with sweat due alleged administrators were accused of pub-
to the lack of air conditioning. Here is where the car-sharing platform Ca-Ca- lishing and spreading blasphemous content.
reem steps in. This Dubai startup builds on an app service much like Uber, The campaigns that were run against them
connecting private drivers with customers, who can order the «pick & made the same claims about the activists
drop» service on demand, and on the go. Instead of negotiating the price, advocating for their release. These rights
as you would when taking a cab, fares are calculated by the app. Drivers activists were vilified online and on televi-
have to go through a thorough security check and background screening, sion, accused of supporting blasphemers
guaranteeing the safety of the customers. Careem entered the Pakistani and of committing blasphemy themselves,
market in 2015 and is now available in all major cities in Pakistan. The simply for maintaining that due process of
success of the app has sparked protests by local taxi and rickshaw drivers, law should apply to all and that extralegal
and the Punjab government attempted to ban the car-sharing company measures must not be used; if anyone was
in January 2017. Whereas normal taxi drivers fear for their livelihoods, indeed guilty of a crime, they should be
Mudassir Sheikha, the Pakistani co-founder of Careem, claims to have a charged and prosecuted. But despite reports
social vision: to build an institution to improve people’s lives and create to both the PTA and the Federal Investi-
one million job opportunities in Pakistan by 2020. However, in some
gation Agency (FIA), no action was taken
cases, Careem is still having difficulties in appealing to its customers.
against the people operating the accounts
One advertising campaign backfired: A rishta
rishta-auntie
-auntie – or a professional
and pages running such campaigns, nor
matchmaker – was offered in order to discover the perfect match for the
were measures taken to block the sites
customer while driving them to the office. Young, educated, urban women
themselves, thereby putting the activists’
– Careem’s main customers – were especially offended by this promo. Prior
to Careem, transportation was a problem for women in the cities. Living reputations and lives at risk. Instead, the
in a highly patriarchal and misogynistic society, they had to mostly rely on law and authorities took action against the
male relatives to get around – until Careem made it easy and safe to hire a Khabaristan Times, a satirical news website.
ride (which can be tracked in real-time). It provides independence and has Invoking the powers of Section 37, the site
revolutionized the social lives of many. That is why the rishta
rishta-auntie
-auntie promo was blocked on the grounds that it pub-
was seen as a slap in the face, reminding women that they are still caged in lished «anti-state» content.
a society that sees heterosexual marriage as the ultimate achievement in Although PECA was not used to charge
life, and the only structure in which a female body can exist. the bloggers, the incident signaled that
 Pakistan’s Cybercrime Law: Boon or Bane?  Pakistan 29

speech on social media was under scru- against a political activist in Lahore accused
tiny and that measures – even if extralegal of such propaganda. With this, PECA’s
or devoid of due process – would be used intended aim was realized.
not only to curb speech, but also to hold the In the name of protecting the people,
alleged perpetrators to account. This cre- what the state did through PECA was amass
ated an environment of fear. powers to protect itself from criticism, strip
Pressure kept mounting through the citizens of speech and privacy rights, and
courts as well, as a result of petitions regard- subject them to the discretionary powers of
ing the availability of blasphemous mate- investigative agencies.
rial online. The then-Minister for Interior,
Chaudhry Nisar, threatened to shut down
social media platforms if they refused to Whither PECA?
comply. The PTA put out SMS alerts saying
that blasphemy was a punishable offense, Although the state apparatus was quick to
and that such material as well as the persons act to advance its own aims under PECA,
engaged in spreading it must be reported. one witnessed a sluggish approach when it
In April 2017, Mashal Khan, a student of came to litigants seeking relief under the law
Peshawar University, was lynched at his for its stipulated aim: to curb h
­ arassment.
university. He had been accused of posting Regarding harassment, the narrative
blasphemous content from his social media went like this: Because there was no law,
accounts – accounts that he said were fake perpetrators knew they would go unpun-
and had put out content in his name. ished. Once the law was introduced, it
These incidents struck fear in the hearts would serve as a deterrent, there would be a
of people. Zero tolerance for dissent was decline in the number of crimes, and people
clear, but now it came with the very real would be charged for them.
possibility of being slapped with danger- In the first few months after the pas-
ous allegations of blasphemy and threats sage of PECA, the reports of arrests of
of being lynched for something one might those involved in online sexual harassment
not have done at all. A mere allegation, a (charged under Section 21) was a somewhat
hacked account, or a fake account in one’s frequent occurrence. But beyond this hype,
name was enough for the pronouncement progress was slow. Just as the PTA and FIA
of guilt, which could lead to legal conse- took no action against people for the pages
quences, and even death at the hands of a and accounts vilifying activists and journal-
mob. During this time, many people deac- ists, citizens routinely complained of not
tivated their social media accounts and/or hearing back for long periods after submit-
became silent on «contentious issues.» Self- ting their complaints – in cases that, to them,
censorship became the viable option as a required urgent attention.
means of self-protection for many. After the complaints and arrests came
the trial stage. However, the trials could
not commence because the special courts
The intended consequence of set up under PECA had not been notified
PECA about their new designation – a process
the government was supposed to have ini-
As time progressed, the intent behind the tiated. This too was a realization that came
law began to reveal itself. There came a later: Once cases made their way to court,
wave of detentions. Political activists and litigants discovered that the judicial offic-
journalists were issued summonses to ers had no jurisdiction to try them. The
appear before the counter-terrorism wing official notification for the designation of
of the FIA for an investigation into «anti- courts was issued on March 31, 2017, seven
state» activity. They were asked to appear months after the passage of a law that was
with their electronic devices. In some cases, deemed very urgent. In Sindh, there was no
these were seized and searched – without clarity until May 2017, when cases began
first obtaining a warrant, as required under getting transferred to the designated courts.
law. A list of 200 Facebook pages and Twit- Until June 2017, courts were in a state of
ter accounts was put together by the FIA’s disarray, unable to determine jurisdiction
counter-terrorism wing, comprising those in some cases – whether they were to be
allegedly engaged in propaganda against tried by the magistrate or the court of ses-
the armed forces and state institutions. A sions. This was precisely the reason rights
case under Section 20 of PECA was lodged and industry groups recommended that a
30 Pakistan  Pakistan’s Cybercrime Law: Boon or Bane?
Pakistan

six-month training session on the technical The solution to every problem is not
and legal aspects be mandatory for any judi- a legal one, and what seems convincing
cial officer before whom PECA cases would on paper usually does not reflect on-the-
go. But, like several other recommendations, ground realities and the mechanics of the
this too had been disregarded. system it needs to engage with to deliver.
For months on end, litigants and their What was presented as a beacon of hope to
families showed up, only to leave with yet hapless victims of online crimes – blackmail
another date for their case. It was not until and harassment in particular – became a
September 2017 that trials under the law curse for those seeking relief.
commenced in Karachi. Court records show
that the reason for delays and adjournments
in cases is due to the absence of the state Control rather than relief
prosecutor, who rarely shows up to hearings.
Part of this is due to the fact that there is just Every criticism of the law as well as all the
one state prosecutor to handle all the cases fears – which were labeled as unfounded –
for the province. This came after the insist- have come to pass. During a discussion in
ence by the government to make sexual July 2017, senators raised the issue of the
harassment a cognizable offense in which misuse and misapplication of PECA, calling
the state is a party and not the individual for scrutiny of the law and requiring the FIA
complainant, authorized to arrest people to submit its report. August 2017 marked
without warrant and lead the prosecution. one year since the passage of PECA. Under
An increase in the number of trained pros- PECA, the FIA is supposed to present both
ecutors to share the load was not part of the houses with a biannual report – the first of
planning. Similarly, forensic reports in these which is still awaited.
cases remain unavailable due to a backlog PECA is a classic example of what is
and a lack of capacity. wrong with the law-making process and
Though many litigants hired private why it is never wise to accept at face value
counsel to move their cases along, proce- any legislative attempts in the name of
dure requires the state prosecutor to be pre- «national security» and «for the public
sent for a matter to proceed. Many litigants good.» The intent behind PECA was always
now want to settle rather than go through to control rather than provide relief to the
the arduous process of the law, but the law average person – and it is this intended aim
does not give them that option either. that is being pursued. 
 Aadhaar: The Indian Biometric ID System Has Potential but Presents Many Concerns  India 31

Aadhaar: The Indian Biometric ID System

Has Potential but Presents Many Concerns
Sushil Kambampati

The Indian national identity system,

Aadhaar, ensures that a person is enrolled At first, the Indian government pro-
by the government only once based on moted Aadhaar as a tool to improve effi-
their biometrics. The ID was set up by the ciency in welfare programs. Now the ID is
required for dozens of other government
government to reduce fraud and improve
and private business services. In most cases,
efficiency in welfare programs, empower
beneficiaries are only required to add their
disadvantaged groups, and enable digital number to their accounts. For example, by
innovation. However, despite the good adding it to a bank account, individuals can
intentions, it has sparked civil-society receive welfare payments through direct
protests due to a lack of consultations deposit. In other cases, such as for food dis-
with the public, perceived failures in de-
de - tribution, they must perform a fingerprint
livering on promises, and fears of govern-
govern- or iris scan at the distribution point.
ment intrusion. Two main concerns prompted the gov-
ernment to consider a unique identity for
all citizens. The first was to prevent fraud
The digital revolution has made informa- through multiple identities. The other was
tion accessible to people on a massive scale. to expand benefits coverage to those who
However, it has also made information had no identity documents, including a
about people equally easy to access. Thus, substantial portion of women. Thus, the
private companies and governments can idea of tying subsidies to an individual
collect vast amounts of data as people make biometrics-based ID caught on. It would
electronic transactions, access services, or ensure that everyone had one – and only
share their personal lives online. Against one – identity, and it guaranteed the precise
this background, societies have to decide targeting of benefits. The idea appealed to
where to draw the line between the ben- politicians and the private sector as a bold,
efits of digital data and the loss of privacy. modernizing step for India, and it became
In India, this struggle is being played out a core part of the strategy known as «Digital
over the national identity system, known as India.» Decision-makers saw in Aadhaar the
Aadhaar. potential to transform day-to-day transac-
Aadhaar is a central government pro- tions and go from using dog-eared ID cards
gram that ensures each legal resident and handwritten ledgers to paperless digital Sushil Kambampati is the senior
(foreign included) in the country has one records. technology manager who led
unique identity based on biometric data the launch of HBO Nordic and
directed several digital distribu-
that includes facial image, fingerprints, and
iris scans. It also collects basic demographic Good intentions but a bumpy tion projects at HBO in New York.
His current venture, YouRTI.in, is
data such as address, date of birth, and a start an AI platform for disseminating
government information. YouRTI.
parent’s name. The government initiated in allows individuals to make
work on it in 2009, and the first ID number Despite the good intentions, the adoption right-to-information requests
was issued in 2010. Today, Aadhaar is the of Aadhaar got off to a bumpy start. It was simply, anonymously, and at no
cost. He is fascinated by all the
world’s largest biometric ID system, with initially a bureaucratic creation not backed ways the internet empowers
nearly 1.2 billion enrolled members. by any law. This led to numerous court chal- people to improve their lives.
32 India  Aadhaar: The Indian Biometric ID System Has Potential but Presents Many Concerns
India

lenges, and the ID did not come into use clients. Many companies need to establish
until February 2016, when the legislature customers’ identities, sometimes by law,
passed the Aadhaar Act. However, lacking as in the case of mobile network operators.
the adequate number of votes in the upper Aadhaar can speed up this process by using
house, the ruling party used a shortened fingerprint scanners to instantly establish
legislative process meant for taxation and a person’s identity in order to get a mobile
spending bills. This led to further court connection. In 2016, for instance, the Reli-
challenges and an outcry that demanded ance Company enrolled about 100 million
consultations be held with the public. customers in less than a year by sending ser-
While cases piled up at the Supreme vice representatives with connected scan-
Court, the central government contin- ners to customers’ homes.
ued to issue regulations that required the These examples show that Aadhaar
Aadhaar program for many other welfare does indeed hold great potential on multi-
entitlements (school lunches, crop insur- ple levels. Individuals need to provide less
ance, vocational training, Bhopal gas leak paperwork for registrations while govern-
compensation), financial activities (filing ment agencies can target beneficiaries of
tax returns, opening bank accounts, large programs more easily. Businesses benefit
money transfers), and private business ser- too, because Aadhaar offers the possibility
vices (mobile phone connection, purchase to streamline identification methods and
of high-value items). thereby reduce fraud.
Aside from the legal challenges, Aadhaar
also faces a legitimacy challenge. Although
some saw in Aadhaar exciting new pos- Digital dreams for some,
sibilities for digital initiatives, it was met dystopian nightmares for
with criticism from civil society at its very others
introduction. To better understand the
arguments on both sides, it is necessary to
examine the potential benefits and criti- Of the many criticisms of Aadhaar, one of
cisms of Aadhaar. the main ones has been that Aadhaar fails
to deliver the promised benefits. For exam-
ple, opponents have challenged the cost
Getting rid of paperwork savings in welfare programs attributed to it.
and facilitating transactions They argue that fraud in welfare programs
was already dropping starting in 2010 due
Aadhaar was initially offered as a remedy to factors that had nothing to do with the
to perceived leakages in welfare programs, new ID system. The lack of sufficient analy-
but it also offered a way to transform iden- sis makes it hard to know whether Aadhaar
tity management in India. Since 2016, the is generating savings, but so far, neither side
central government has embraced both has produced any solid data to support their
uses with vigor, requiring the ID for almost views.
all interactions. By attaching their Aadhaar Another argument against Aadhaar is
identity to online accounts, people may that the ID system fails to authenticate a
electronically sign online forms, eliminating person if their fingerprints are worn off,
the need for paper documents and signa- or if they have had cataract surgery, thus
tures. State governments have also started increasing the number of people who are
requiring it, even for students to participate excluded from benefits. Estimates for this
in sporting events. In nearly all cases, its use type of failure are typically around 5 percent,
is justified as a way to prevent fraud, such as but some put it as high as 10 percent. Even
sending a stand-in for tests or examinations. the lower rate would mean – in a population
Beyond using Aadhaar as a control over of more than 1.3 billion – an unacceptably
identity, the central government has cre- high number of excluded people. Failures in
ated several digital initiatives that promise the system do need to be pointed out so that
to transform what is considered business as they may be fixed. However, it is unclear
usual. The government empowered a semi- how failures are defined and how pervasive
private organization to create a payment they are. A «failure» could refer to a single
infrastructure to enable the easy transfer of instance of verification, or to the overall
money between individuals and businesses. outcome. For example, say a person tries
Private businesses may also use Aadhaar to to authenticate with a thumb scan and fails,
authenticate the identities of employees or but then they succeed with another finger.
 Aadhaar: The Indian Biometric ID System Has Potential but Presents Many Concerns  India 33

Depending on the definition, the failure rate

is either 50 percent or zero. Aadhaar is a system that is
Critics also worry about the possibility too big to fail
of the unauthorized copying of biometrics.
If someone else gets a person’s fingerprints, Despite the many criticisms of Aadhaar
they are forever compromised, since it is and the court challenges, there has not
not possible to change fingerprints like been a popular uprising against it. Since
passwords. Moreover, individuals cannot 88 percent of the estimated population has
control how fingerprint authentications already applied for an Aadhaar number, it
can be used. If a bank, for instance, imple- seems that most people have accepted it as
ments a poorly conceived system that a fact of life. Furthermore, the biometric ID
only needs a fingerprint to transfer money, system forms a cornerstone of the govern-
someone whose fingerprints were copied ment’s vision of digital society, so it will not
may lose their money without ever lifting give up on Aadhaar easily.
a finger, as it were. To counter this threat, Some groups, such as female heads
the government needs to adopt guidelines of households, have actively welcomed it
and r­ egulations to prevent the misuse of because it gives them more control over
­biometric data. their finances. There is even evidence that
The most vocal argument against Aad- Aadhaar is a tool that can empower women
haar is the concern of civil rights organiza- to become more independent. For example,
tions that biometric data could be used for Aadhaar has dramatically increased female
state surveillance. It is true that Aadhaar participation in formal banking activities.
could potentially allow for the introduc- Opponents of Aadhaar want to dis-
tion of a physical presence surveillance mantle the system and destroy the data-
system, and the appeal of such a system to base. However, Aadhaar has come to be
governments for security reasons should
not be lightly dismissed. Yet, such a system
is also highly improbable. It would require
immense investment in sensors, network INDIA
infrastructure, and data storage. Setting it YouRTI.in simplifies right-to-information requests
up and funding it would not go unnoticed.
Right-to-information (RTI) laws empower citizens to engage with govern-
govern-
However, in order to gain the confidence of ment and hold public officials accountable. In India, citizens have used RTI
skeptics and mitigate these fears, lawmak- to get roads repaired, protect wildlife, fight corruption, and receive basic
ers should limit the government’s use of bio- information about accessing government benefits. However, this has come
metric data from Aadhaar for the purposes with a cost. At least 56 people have been killed for their RTI activism, and
of surveillance. twice as many have been assaulted. Social stigma has also severely limited
Coupled with fears of biometric surveil- its usage by women. Moreover, the process itself is cumbersome: Each
lance is the concern that Aadhaar enables government agency can have dozens of information officers dealing with
the government to intrude into people’s pri- different functions, creating difficult-to-navigate terrain. A required fee
vate lives. Critics have raised the specter of adds another procedural challenge. Finally, composing the query can be
the government monitoring people’s every daunting for those who are less literate. YouRTI is a social enterprise that
purchase, thus knowing even small details removes barriers to citizen engagement by providing a platform for anyone
such as what they eat and the color of their to make RTI requests, simply and safely. YouRTI analyzes the queries to
car. Although a unique individual ID that determine the appropriate public offices from among the 10,000 agencies
is common to all databases would make in the database. It then prepares and sends the requests to the appropri-
appropri-
such tracking easier, it is also possible to do ate public authorities. Responses are posted online for everyone to access,
and information-seekers remain anonymous. For queries that are made in
so without an individual ID. In the United
the public interest, there is no cost, which reduces obstacles. The aim is to
States, which does not have an ID system
make it almost as simple as posting a comment on a website. YouRTI scans
like Aadhaar, the government planned a
the responses it receives, extracts the text, and makes it searchable. The
widespread data-collection initiative called
platform also translates the replies, which are often in the local language
Total Information Awareness (TIA) in the
of the responsible state agency, into English. Furthermore, YouRTI also
early 2000s. TIA was eventually defunded integrates machine learning into the platform to automatically categorize
due to the public outcry over privacy con- the responses as replies, denials, or transfers. Activists who make frequent
cerns. The Indian government has already information requests can use the platform to save time and track the status
implemented its own version of TIA called of their queries. They can easily send a question to multiple offices, such as
Natgrid. Therefore, the true threat to privacy the same department in all 29 states, without doing the heavy lifting them-
them-
is not created by Aadhaar, but rather by gov- selves. YouRTI’s ambition does not stop with RTI requests. In the future,
ernment attempts at increasingly intrusive it will aggregate all public documents on the platform to create a single
tracking. source for government information.
34 India  Aadhaar: The Indian Biometric ID System Has Potential but Presents Many Concerns
India

the primary identity document for many privacy protection laws now may decrease
people. Those who are economically better these risks. Here, the European Union’s
off may have a driver’s license, a tax ID card, General Data Protect Regulations would be
or a passport, but the poorest members of a good model to follow. In order to uphold
society may only have Aadhaar. If they no democratic values, the government also
longer have their ration cards, their right- needs to curtail its own powers concerning
to-work cards, or other such documents, the tracking of all citizens and prevent the
shutting down Aadhaar would be a blow needless collection of data. Such protec-
to them. Since Aadhaar has become widely tions may assuage the fears of critics and
entrenched in many systems, a rollback uphold Aadhaar’s long-term legitimacy. The
now might cause havoc. good news is that policymakers do seem to
Going forward, data privacy concerns have taken notice of the need for a privacy
do need to be addressed. There are many law, and news reports say that they are
adversarial actors – from private espionage working on a draft bill. If the legislative pro-
groups to foreign governments – who may cess takes into account public feedback and
try to exploit data vulnerabilities. There is addresses the privacy concerns that people
also the threat of abuse of power by future have with Aadhaar, it would provide a solid
governments. Creating and instilling strong basis for more digital initiatives. 

INDIA
Reach of Aadhaarʼs enrollment and uses
Source: State of Aadhaar report 2016–17

Aadhaar enrollment 85 %

of Indiaʼs population in 2017
1.14 billion
People enrolled in Aadhaar as
of March 2017

Authentication 12 %

📇
of Aadhaar enrollees
139 million
Monthly average of people authenti-
cating themselves using Aadhaar in
the latter half of FY 2016–17

e-KYC <16 %
of Jan Dhan accounts opened as of March 2017
44.7 million

Creditcards
Number of bank accounts opened
using Aadhaar e-KYC as of Mar ’17

Direct Benefit Transfer 33 %

retweet
of the total DBT expenditure in FY 2016–17
22,006 crore ($3.3 billion)
Total DBT payments sent using the
Aadhaar Payment Bridge System in
FY 2016–17

Seeding 72 %
of total beneficiary households
167 million

🏨
Numbers of PDS (food subsidy)
beneficiary households with at least
one member seeded to Aadhaar
 IT Giants in China: A Tough Business  China 35

IT Giants in China: A Tough Business

Sophie Ping Sun

By August 2016, the number of internet

users in China had surpassed 710 million, Google-China conflict of March 2010, when
which is half of the country’s population, Google announced its departure from Chi-
and more than twice the entire US popu-
popu- na’s search-engine market due to various
difficulties, including «highly sophisticated
lation. The scale of technological diffusion
and targeted attacks» it had suffered within
presents enormous economic opportuni-
opportuni-
the country.
ties for large IT companies, both in and The conflict is obvious. Whereas some
outside of China. To the outside world, emphasize the internet’s innately liberat-
the mysterious Middle Kingdom presents ing qualities, Beijing views the technology
many paradoxical characteristics in its mainly as a utilitarian tool to drive Chi-
development of information and commu-
commu- na’s wealth and power. Beijing has always
nication technologies: China suffers from regarded the internet to be an effective
draconian internet regulations, but it means of «economic and social develop-
ment,» as it has stated repeatedly. Beijing
also enjoys a prosperous internet mar-
mar-
has also been a strong advocate of «inter-
ketplace; it attracts IT giants from the
net sovereignty,» meaning that the national
United States and Europe, but it has also government has the right to regulate the
expelled some of them. internet as it sees fit, so long as the com-
puter network involves equipment, person-
How do international internet companies nel, and resources that fall within China’s
survive in China? What defines the rela- jurisdiction. Such a stance on sovereignty
tionship between Silicon Valley giants and contrasts sharply with the internet freedom
Beijing? This article discusses the dynam- discourse that has been encouraged by
ics and relations of internet giants with Western countries.
China. It contends that the internet ecology Google’s withdrawal from China boosts
in China should be viewed as a complex its credentials on ethics, but it also means
web of interactions involving the Chinese giving up an enormous market. Other big
authorities, international internet giants, as tech companies from the West have had dif-
Sophie Ping Sun is an assistant
well as domestic IT firms. ficulties, too, as Chinese authorities have professor at the Department of
blocked Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Drop- Journalism and Communication
at the Chinese Academy of
box, and 3,000 other websites and online
A giant’s dilemma: A tale of platforms.
Social Science. Her research
interests are ICTs, new media, and
two worlds For large platforms such as Facebook digital labor. In particular, she
is interested in how technol-
and Twitter, marching into the Chinese mar- ogy and digitalization affect the
China’s persistent efforts to build an inter- ket would be a mixed blessing. Their entry livelihoods of digital laborers. She
net empire have been apparent for the last would provide them access to 710 million believes that digital technology
is a double-edged sword that
three decades. For Western tech compa- Chinese internet users and a significant is both inclusive and excluding,
nies, however, entering the Chinese mar- increase in their global businesses. How- and she hopes her research will
ket has not been smooth sailing, given the ever, the involvement would also necessi- foster a better society by critically
assessing the digital divide and
stringent government rules, censorship, tate compliance with Beijing’s regulations, inequality. Sophie currently
and surveillance. A prime example is the censorship, and even possibly force them to resides in Beijing, China.
36 China  IT Giants in China: A Tough Business
China

sacrifice user privacy and information secu- net. Therefore, it is unsurprising to find
rity. For example, to meet their regulatory companies such as Google, Facebook, and
obligations, Facebook and Twitter would Twitter being marginalized in China’s cyber-
have to require its users to register with real space, as well as the emergence of an almost
names and conduct self-censorship. Is this entirely parallel Web 2.0 and social media
a trade-off that they are willing to accept? world that is distinct from the norms of the
Giant tech companies, in this sense, are global internet.
stuck in the middle: between the enormous
size of the market on the one hand, and
the principles of internet freedom on the BAT: Replicas of Western
other. Although many Chinese people are giants
trying to go beyond the «Great Firewall» to
access blocked foreign webpages – an activ- What kinds of social media platforms do
ity known as «scaling the wall» (fanqiang) – Chinese people use? Who develops them?
this has become considerably harder since How do these digital platforms survive in
2013, when President Xi further tightened China? If you travel around, it is common
the government’s control over the inter- to find people using WeChat or Sina Weibo.
These are social media platforms similar
to WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter. It is
CHINA
interesting that most of the global digital
Despite strict state control, digitalization is on the fast track platforms can find their replicas in China,
in China albeit with slight differences.
With regard to homegrown digital
Internet access in China is restricted more than almost anywhere else in media entities, BAT companies are leading
the world. Online media of any kind is rigorously controlled through a com-com- the way. BAT is an acronym combining the
prehensive set of laws and regulations, and many websites and platforms initials of three jockeying IT giants in China:
are censored or entirely blocked. According to the 2017 annual Freedom
Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. Despite some
on the Net study by Freedom House, China ranked last for the third time in
overlap, the three giants’ core businesses
a row among the countries assessed. At the same time, China is one of the
are distinct. Baidu is China’s leading search
most advanced countries in terms of using mobile devices and apps for all
engine, which is also involved in most
aspects of daily life. Some companies started by copying international on- on-
online businesses such as blogs, forums,
line platforms and adapting them for the domestic market. Currently, the
big four Chinese IT companies – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Jindong – and online encyclopedias. Alibaba, famous
dominate the Chinese market and are also entering the global market. The for its $25 billion recording-breaking IPO
two main competitors are Alipay (by Alibaba) and WeChat (by Tencent). on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014, is
These «one-in-all apps» allow users to manage their whole lives: pay utility China’s e-commerce giant. Tencent is cur-
bills; apply for appointments at hospitals; register a marriage; pay taxes rently the most valued internet company
and manage finances; use local transportation or shared bike systems; and in online games and instant messaging and
pay at cafés and restaurants – basically everything can be done on a mobile owns the two most prevalent social media
device. In fact, people have to use these apps more and more or they will platforms in China: QQ and WeChat. Like
otherwise not have access to certain services. There are already places Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon,
that do not accept cash payments anymore. For most Chinese people, this which frequently trespass on each other’s
is not much of a problem, as they have embraced the convenience that turf, the BAT companies also survive and
comes with it. One of the many famous Chinese apps is Jindong, an online thrive by competing and cooperating with
shopping platform and the main competitor to Alibaba’s Taobao platform. each other.
Jindong started by selling electronic appliances; today, like Taobao, it of-
of- From a Chinese perspective, domestic
fers almost everything. Delivery is often guaranteed within a day through IT companies hold an obvious advantage
its own delivery service. 58-Daojia («58 Home service») is one of the most
due to their captive market because Face-
commonly used platforms offering everyday home services, such as clean- clean-
book and Twitter have been blocked in
ing homes, home appliances, or clothes; repairing, moving, or fixing up
China and Google has made its exit. How-
furniture; driving and picking up people; finding nannies, beauty, health, or
ever, although they have benefited from
fitness offers, and much more. One of the most popular livestreaming apps
the absence of Western IT giants, this is not
is KuaiShou, which started as a photo-sharing app a few years ago. Many
users have even managed to earn money through KuaiShou, as many of the the only reason for their success. One has
viewers are willing to «rate» and «donate» money to watch people clean, to also acknowledge that the trio holds the
iron, cook, eat, and so on. Despite comprehensive and strict online control largest pool of creative talents in the coun-
and supervision as well as plans to build up a «Social Credit Regulation try. By 2016, the total number of employees
System,» a broad and critical debate about the government’s and compa-compa- at Tencent had exceeded 25,000. Due to the
nies’ use and misuse of private data is hard to find. This is due to censor-
censor- state policy of encouraging entrepreneur-
ship and also because Chinese users know that real privacy protection, ship and innovation, BAT has become the
online or offline, does not exist. tech powerhouse of China by maintaining
 IT Giants in China: A Tough Business  China 37

thousands of incubators and research cent- in balancing the freedom of speech of their
ers. More importantly, as domestic compa- customers with the stringent censoring
nies, they are very familiar with the Chinese requirements of the government.
market and have established ways to stabi-
lize and increase market demand.
The business success of a tech com- Playing a hard game
pany in China depends a lot on the man-
agement’s willingness to comply with state The rapid expansion of China’s consumer
regulations. For instance, WeChat and Sina base has made the country immensely
Weibo are actively involved in content cen- important for a broad spectrum of technol-
sorship in China, and this kind of situation ogy products. Some big corporations such
has deteriorated since 2017, in that more as Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft have cho-
regulations on microblogging, VPN, and sen to enter the market and have started to
WeChat groups have been issued by the gain a footing in China, despite its reputa-
Beijing government. The censorship sys- tion as one of the world’s most restricted
tem is efficient in targeting sensitive issues internet markets.
in social media discussions and redirecting Last year, Apple’s overall revenue in
them to «Not Found» pages. Meanwhile, greater China jumped to $59 billion. How-
domestic tech giants have built good rela- ever, like many other international compa-
tions with different hierarchies of local and nies, Apple’s success in China came at a cost.
regional governments – an advantage that In order to maintain its business, Apple had
foreign competitors such as Facebook and to concede to Chinese authorities on issues
Twitter would not have enjoyed had they concerning self-censorship and coopera-
been admitted to the Chinese market. This tion in terms of data storage. In 2015, Apple
is because, on the one hand, on different disabled one of its new apps in China to
levels of the Chinese government, there is prevent Chinese people from accessing
skepticism of foreign IT companies, as they sensitive issues banned by Beijing. Moreo-
are seen as dangerous institutions promot- ver, earlier this year, Apple announced that
ing Western ideologies. On the other hand, it will be opening a new data center in main-
many Western IT giants confront difficulties land China, in cooperation with the state-

CHINA
Digital output: The additional GDP generated as a result of
embracing digitalization ($ billions, 2015 versus 2020)
Source: Accenture Digital China 2020

2015

2020

$395 billion

$311 billion

$240 billion $252 billion

$188 billion $195 billion

$169 billion
$129 billion $142 billion
$101 billion
$89 billion
$67 billion

🚘
Auto, industrial
🌲
Natural resources
cart
Consumer goods
💻
Electronics
FLASK
Chemicals and
💱
Financial services
equipment, and and services and hi-tech refined petroleum
transport
38 China  IT Giants in China: A Tough Business
China

owned China Telecom company, to comply cover online speech. A more recent regu-
with a new law requiring data on Chinese lation has formally approved the power
citizens to be kept within China. It is not of authorities to access citizens’ online
hard to see that the Chinese government information, if deemed necessary for legal
remains a decisive factor in Apple’s overall ­investigations.
business in China. Besides political intervention, large
Other foreign platforms are also actively global internet players also have to con-
encouraging self-censorship. In 2015, Line, front fierce competition from local com-
a Japanese messaging app, employed a key- panies. eBay first entered China in 2002,
word filtering system to ensure that politi- but it shut down operations in 2006 due to
cally sensitive issues are not discussed in intense competition from Taobao.com. The
the Chinese version of its product. Similarly, survival of Amazon in China is in this sense
LinkedIn relies on in-house censors and surprising, although it still competes with
algorithms to screen out «harmful» content many Chinese competitors such as Taobao,
from its Chinese website. These companies Tmall, JD, Suning, and other rising compa-
must promote self-censorship with their nies. Apple faces similar competition. By
products if they do not want to enrage Bei- July 2017, Apple only ranked fifth in China’s
jing and get banned. smartphone market, behind Huawei, Oppo,
Over the years, the control exercised by Vivo, and Xiaomi – the four Chinese smart-
Chinese leadership over the internet has phone brands that collectively account for
increased notably. After Xi Jinping became almost 70 percent of the domestic market
president, he appointed himself the leader share.1
of the Central Leading Group for Internet
Security and Informatization, so as to bet-
ter take control of the computer networks – Ways of access
from basic infrastructure to tech companies.
Meanwhile, the government has attempted Foreign companies, however, have never
to tighten its grip on internet content. In ceased exploring potential opportunities
2013, a Chinese court announced that the in the gargantuan Chinese market, despite
criminal charge of «picking quarrels and the popularity of their replicas and stringent
provoking trouble» could be extended to government regulations. In order to gain
admission and have a piece of the market,
foreign internet companies look for Chinese
CHINA partners through joint ventures. By find-
Number and percentage of Chinese ing domestic partners, many international
online shopper (2015 & 2016) digital platforms have successfully entered
Source: E-Commerce in China 2016 - Chinese Ministry and branched out in China. For example,
of Commerce
NHN, one of the world’s biggest internet
content service operators, marched into
China by joining hands with Qihoo 360.
46670
44093 In 2005, Yahoo! chose to ally with Alibaba
41325 63,80 % and expand its Chinese operations. At the
63,40 %
60,00 % beginning of 2016, Qualcomm also formed
33967
a joint venture with Guizhou Huaxintong
54,80 % Semiconductor Technology to invest in chip
server technology, a sector that the local
government was keen to develop.
Fitting themselves into joint ventures
helps these companies become more local-
ized and adaptable. However, this does not
eliminate all obstacles. Besides online sur-
veillance, Chinese authorities are also sen-
2015 2016 sitive to issues such as technology transfer,
corporate governance, the protection of
local brands, as well as information security.
Number of online shopper (in 10,000)
The preference is, of course, that foreign
Number of mobile online shopper (in 10,000)
tech companies provide China with their
% of online shoppers among all internet users core technology and advanced manage-
% of mobile online shoppers among all mobile internet users ment models.
 IT Giants in China: A Tough Business  China 39

CHINA
China's online retail turnover
5155,6
(in billion RMB)
Source: E-Commerce in China 2016 - Chinese
Ministry of Commerce
4085,2

2908,7

1863,6

1311

782,6

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

In 2015, Microsoft announced its ment would be the last to want to see «Tibet
partnership with the China Electronics independence» or «Falun Gong crackdown»
Technology Group Corporation (CETC), a on these social media platforms in different
state-owned company, to «license, deploy, languages.
manage and optimize Windows 10 for Second, launching Facebook or Twitter
China’s government agencies and certain in China would be nothing short of miracle,
state-owned enterprises and provide ongo- not only due to China’s draconian internet
ing support and services for these custom- regulations, but also its even tighter con-
ers.» Microsoft management is happy to rub trol of internet speech under President Xi.
shoulders with Beijing officials. According Although Mark Zuckerberg is actively seek-
to Microsoft Corporate Vice President Yusuf ing chances to communicate with Beijing,
Mehdi, «This venture signals the possibility he must also come to terms with the fact
for new opportunities for Windows 10 in the that he will need to make concessions in
many government entities in China.» How- order to operate in China, otherwise Face-
ever, just in 2014, Microsoft 8 was banned by book would risk becoming the next Don
the Chinese government due to a concern Quixote, fighting for something unrealistic.
over information security. Accessing markets is not just a problem
The cooperation between Microsoft and faced by digital platforms such as Facebook
CETC again is indicative of the unpredict- and Google, but it is also an imperative issue
able relations between the Beijing central for Beijing and the Chinese people. As one
government and foreign internet capital. In post in Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website simi-
order to survive in China, foreign tech com- lar to Quora) says, today’s Chinese IT ecol-
panies are learning to remain on good terms ogy is «not only about how Facebook gets
with the government. into China, but also how Chinese people
For social media platforms such as cross the Great Wall and reach every corner
Facebook and Twitter, entering China of the world» – the end of the sentence refer-
seems much more difficult. First, if they ring precisely to the first email ever sent
were to enter China, the massive global from China, in 1987, which read, «Across
scale of these two platforms would neces- the Great Wall, we can reach every corner in
sitate a very complicated censorship system. the world.» 
Compared with WeChat and Sina Weibo,
in which Chinese is the main language
employed, Facebook offers more than 140 The original version of this article was published on
December 31, 2016, by La Vanguardia.
languages, and Twitter is available in 33
languages. Both allow users to make friends,
join groups, and create public debates that
1
http://www.ibtimes.co.in/huawei-oppo-vivo-xiaomi-
rule-chinese-smartphone-market-q2-2017-736010
can reach people all over the world. It is
easy to imagine that the Chinese govern-
40 Previous issues

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Publisher Heinrich Böll Foundation
Publication Date January 2018
Editor Fabian Heppe
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