Dr. Janjira Sombatpoonsiri

Anti-fake news lawfare is deepening government control over civil society, undermining information integrity and civil society’s democratic rights. Patterns to this legal repression and related pushback strategies in South and Southeast Asia are examined, as the forerunners of global developments.

This chapter explores the multidirectional relationships between civil society and autocratization. On the one hand, democratization studies generally conceive civil society as a crucial driver for democratic transition and consolidation. On the other hand, skeptics argue against the invariable characterization of civil society as a democratic force.

This article examines how digital repression tactics—surveillance, prosecution against online activists, and influence campaigns—work in tandem to contain dissent. I applied a mechanism-based approach to analyze interactive patterns of digital repression amidst Thailand’s 2020–2021 protests.

Digital repression facilitates ruling elites’ control over online dissent. Southeast Asia’s civil society has managed to counter this using three tactics: protests and legal action, knowledge- and capacity-building activities, and alliances with domestic policymakers and cross-border civic networks.

The interactive sessions of this workshop focused on knowledge sharing, discussions on cross-regional trends and collaboration, and strategies for countering anti-fake news lawfare.

At this workshop, participants discussed patterns and trends of anti-fake news laws, digital/social media platforms and anti-fake news measures, ways of regulating mis/disinformation, and civil society pushback strategies.