Sea S Struggle For Truth Amid Ai And Authoritarianism

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As we mark World Press Freedom Day 2025, Southeast Asia stands at a dangerous inflection point.
The region is witnessing not only the erosion of press freedom but also the deliberate construction of a digital authoritarian order - one that marries repressive laws, disinformation campaigns, and artificial intelligence to silence dissent and consolidate power.
In democracies, a free press is not ornamental - it is existential. It holds governments to account, amplifies marginalised voices, and equips citizens with the information they need to act.
But across Southeast Asia, this essential function of journalism is being dismantled.
ADSFrom Jakarta to Manila, Phnom Penh to Naypyidaw, media outlets are being threatened, co-opted, or shut down. Journalists in the region are under attack like never before.
Investigations, imprisonment
CPJ’s annual report shows that at least 52 journalists were behind bars in Southeast Asia on December 1, 2024, in direct retaliation for their reporting.
They include female journalists like Pham Doan Trang, who is serving a nine-year sentence in Vietnam, and Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a 26-year-old community reporter who has been held in the Philippines for more than five years.
In Indonesia and Malaysia, investigative journalists face growing harassment for reporting on corruption and corporate malfeasance.
In the Philippines, cyber-libel laws are wielded like bludgeons and impunity is deeply entrenched, with murderers of journalists often getting away unpunished.
In Myanmar, journalists are detained, tortured, or killed simply for doing their jobs
In countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand, vague legal provisions on “fake news” and “state defamation” serve as a cover for targeted censorship, often to silence coverage critical of bad governance or environmental destruction.
This is not random. It is a coordinated, region-wide rollback of fundamental freedoms. The press is not just being restricted - it is being redefined as a threat to “national security”, “public order”, or “digital harmony”.
The outcome is clear: fewer questions, less scrutiny, and more power concentrated in fewer hands.
Underneath these trends lies a deeper malaise: the corrosion of democratic institutions.
Shrinking independence
ADSIn many parts of Southeast Asia, electoral processes are hollowed out, civil society is under siege, and legal frameworks are weaponised to suppress independent thought.
A silenced press is both a symptom and a catalyst of this decline.
Artificial intelligence, once hailed as a tool for democratising information, is now accelerating these threats.
In authoritarian settings, AI is being harnessed to automate censorship, identify dissenters, and manipulate public discourse.
Deepfakes blur the boundaries between fact and fiction. Algorithmic amplification privileges propaganda over truth. In the absence of robust regulatory oversight, AI becomes a tool of repression rather than empowerment.
Just as troubling is the tightening grip of political elites and oligarchs on media ownership.
Across the region, governments and their proxies have captured major outlets, turning newsrooms into echo chambers for state-approved narratives.
Editorial independence is sacrificed for survival. Government-linked advertising buys compliance. Journalism becomes a vehicle not for truth-telling but for narrative control.
These dynamics are not unprecedented. The shadow of past autocracies looms large.
Southeast Asia has lived through eras where the press was muzzled, propaganda ruled, and dissent disappeared. The promises of the post-authoritarian era - pluralism, accountability, freedom of expression - are now being systematically reversed.
But there remains a window for action.
Not all is lost
Lawmakers across Southeast Asia must rise above national silos to form an inter-parliamentary alliance for press freedom - a platform that protects journalists, counters repressive laws and promotes rights-based frameworks for governing emerging technologies like AI.
Through such a coalition, parliamentarians can defend not only journalists’ right to report, but the public’s right to know.
Southeast Asia is a crucial region in global trade and supply chains. Many member states in the regional bloc of Asean are robust trading nations, with a deep-rooted tradition of openness.
They have long harnessed the power of the free flow of information that is essential in keeping trading and markets moving, and economies flourishing.
Journalists bring us news that is essential to keep citizens informed, which in turn keeps societies safe and stable.
In a diverse region of 700 million people like Southeast Asia, free access to trustworthy and reliable information is key to maintaining social cohesion and harmony.
In some cases, they can help save lives and livelihoods, as seen in the recent devastating earthquake in Myanmar.
It is in our joint interest to protect press freedom and our collective rights as citizens to peace and prosperity in the region.
Governments must be held accountable - not for prosecuting the press, but for protecting it. Civil society must reaffirm its commitment to independent journalism as a core pillar of democratic resilience.
And regional institutions like Asean must abandon their long-held indifference to press freedom. Without a free and robust press, there can be no meaningful regional integration, let alone sustainable peace and prosperity.
The stakes are high. Journalism is not the enemy of the state - it is the lifeblood of public accountability, the sentinel of truth, and the first line of defence against tyranny.
To allow journalism to be extinguished is to invite authoritarianism to flourish unchecked.
Southeast Asia deserves better. The right to know is not a luxury. It is the foundation upon which free societies stand - or fall. - Mkini
MERCY CHRIESTY BARENDS is Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights chairperson and member of the House of Representatives of Indonesia, and JODIE GINSBERG is Committee to Protect Journalists chief executive.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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