Social development
Human rights
Athan: 250 people face charges for social media posts
More than 250 people faced criminal charges for expressing their opinions on social media in the first half of the year, according to a report by local free speech group Athan. The report said 70 cases with 250 respondents were filed over opinions expressed on social media ...
Khin Myat Myat Wai
Vietnamese Facebook User Gets Six-Year Prison Term For ‘Negative’ Posts
Vietnamese democracy advocate Huyn Dac Tuy was sentenced on Wednesday by a court in southern Vietnam’s Quang Ngai province to a six-year prison term, followed by three years’ probation, for criticizing the country’s communist government in a series of online posts, according to state media ...
Information access law to be finalised next month
The Ministry of Information on Tuesday concluded the final revision by key ministries of the draft Law on Access to Information, without making any major amendments. It will be submitted to the Council of Ministers to be rubber-stamped by the end of September or beginning ...
Voun Dara
Myanmar Says Ethnic Army Attacks Were ‘Acts of Terrorism’ That Hurt Peace Talks
The Myanmar government on Friday strongly condemned attacks by three ethnic rebel armies that left 15 security officers and civilians dead in the Mandalay region and neighboring northern Shan state, calling them “acts of terrorism” that could thwart the country’s teetering peace process. An alliance comprising ...
Ministry to revoke licences of media over fake news
The Information Ministry yesterday warned that it would revoke the licences of print and online media outlets which distribute fake news that endanger national security. Phos Sovann, director-general of General Department of Information and Broadcasting, said in a Facebook video post that the ministry will strictly ...
Ly Livsier
Cambodian press in peril
The fate of two Cambodian journalists accused of espionage — Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin — hangs in the balance as their trial resumes in Phnom Penh today, although the charges against them are based on absurd grounds and flimsy evidence. The bogus case against the ...
Cambodia's micro-loans accused of 'predatory' lending
Two prominent civil society groups in Cambodia have released a report detailing predatory practices by local microfinance institutions (MFIs), including coerced land sales. The joint report, released on Wednesday by human rights group, Licadho, and land rights group, Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), spans 10 communities in four provinces ...
Andrew Nachemson
Concerns Being Raised About Thailand’s Human Rights Commission
Concerns are being raised after the resignation of two prominent human rights advocates from the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. An alarm bell signaling the need for a total revamp of the flawed and scandal-ridden agency. Thailand’s Human Rights Commissioners Angkhana Neelapaijit and Tuenjai Deetes announced their resignations ...
Cambodian Court Begins Trial of Former RFA Reporters Charged With Espionage
A court in Cambodia on Friday began trial proceedings against two former Radio Free Asia journalists accused of espionage, with the defendants acknowledging that they had continued to provide information to their past employer after it had closed its bureau in Phnom Penh. The two denied, ...
Fed-up with graft, the public turns to social media for justice
While social media campaigns can and do attract significant support online, rarely do they translate into real-world action on this scale. That an estimated 6,000 demonstrators marched to the Criminal Investigation Department office in Yangon’s Insein Township on July 6 speaks to the growing concern over the ...
