COMMENT | As the internet sector and mobile penetration increase in Southeast Asia, restrictions on online speech and expression are also on the rise.

Journalists across the region face digital threats as governments resort to authoritarian measures and tactics to stifle independent media and free speech.

Unesco’s theme for World Press Freedom Day 2022, “Journalism Under Digital Siege”, highlights the ways digital technologies have allowed state and non-state actors to impose increasing levels of control over journalists.

This control is manifested through disinformation and surveillance, disruptions to the integrity...