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Internet Censorship Is Taking Root in Southeast Asia

July 18,2013 1, By Charlie Campbell

Every time Le Anh Hung starts to write he thinks of his three young children. The

38-year-old has already been imprisoned twice for blogging about human rights

and comrption from his home in Hanoi and lives half-expecting another fateful

knock at the door. And yet "I'm not scared," he says, "I know what I choose to do

is risky but I accept the fight."

Forty-six bloggers and democracy activists have been imprisoned so far this year

in Vietnam - more than the whole of 2012 - amid a vicious crackdown. The intolerance is mirrored across Southeast Asia as regimes attempt to stem brewing

dissent. Comrption, lack of effective democracy and a widening wealth gap have

all bolstered popular protests in the region. In Malaysia, tens of thousands have

taken to the streets to condemn alleged irregularities during May 5 elections that

returned the incumbent National Front coalition to power. In Laos, protesters are

calling for the safe return of outspoken activist Sombath Somphone.

Demonstrations are ongoing in Cambodia, where a ballot slated for July 28 has

been hit by accusations of dirry tricks. In recent years, strikes and social unrest

have erupted in Vietnam, which is beset by inflation, land-rights abuses and

venality.

This political dissatisfaction is buttressed by "deeper forces of economic change

and challenges wafting through the region ... and the rise of new classes,"

Professor Kevin Hewison, director of the Asia Research Centre at Australia's