Drawn from literatures with clear advocacy/activism agenda, this talk explores common rationale among civil society organisations, foreign-aid organisations, and intergovernmental organisations that work under the umbrella terms like “internet freedom” and “information and communication technology for development” (ICT4D). Focusing on the common idea of “free flow of information”, of both democratic and economic values, that drive local government and foreign aid programmes in Southeast Asia, the talk proposes a critical overview of the development of the digital media landscape in the region: what are the issues of concerns, and who are key actors, particularly in mainland Southeast Asian countries.

 

Key issues to be addressed include: access to physical network of digital infrastructure, native language interface to digital platform, digital media regulatory framework, and digital rights and activism. These provide thematic framework for further discussion on the liberalisation of telecommunication market, growth of mobile penetration, digitalisation of traditional media, media ownership, and specifically their consequences on the self-determination of the citizen in the region.