Policing Cyberspace: Understanding Online Repression in Thailand and the Philippines

Abstract

Social networking sites have become increasingly relevant in the study of democracy and culture in recent years. This study explores the interconnectedness of social networks, the imposition of state control, and management of social behavior by comparing various literature on the operation of repression in Thai and Philippine cyberspaces. It examines the overt and covert policing of daily interactions in digital environments and unpacks governmental technologies’ disciplinary mechanisms following Michel Foucault’s notion of government and biopolitical power. Subjugation in the context of social networks merits analysis for it sheds light on the practice of active and passive self-censorship—the former driven by the pursuit of a moral self-image and the latter by state-sponsored fear. In tracing various points of convergence and divergence in the practice of cyber control in Thailand and the Philippines, the study found newer domains of regulation of social behavior applicable to today’s democracies.

Patenting sociality: Uncovering the operational logics of Facebook through critical patent analysis

“…When multiple user information is turned into statistics, it becomes possible for governing entities to determine people’s behavioral patterns. Understanding such patterns may help produce content or develop strategies for administering or policing people’s perspectives and interactions (see Talamayan, 2020). In this sense, the term government indeed should not only pertain to the “political structures or management of states” but also the manner in which individual or group conduct is defined and directed (Felluga, 2015: 121).…”

Revisiting Asian Values in Southeast Asian’s Cyberdemocracy Discourse

“…Furthermore, the internet also becomes the technology that allows significant changes in the interaction among the people of Southeast Asia. It flourished in digital culture, became media for resistance, and even increased the economic level of the region (Goggin et al, 2021;Lim, 2006;Davies, 2021) Extensive library research academic journals and reports from various organizations (Chiang, 2023;Kearney, 2023;Goggin et al, 2021;Putra & Aminuddin, 2020;Talamayan, 2020 ) suggest that there are two major concerns regarding cyberspace in Southeast Asia: digital economic and cyberdemocracy particularly regarding the activism in cyberspace. Cyberspace in Southeast Asia is one of the fastestgrowing regions in terms of digital economy (Davies, 2021).…”

“…Cyberspace in Southeast Asia is one of the fastestgrowing regions in terms of digital economy (Davies, 2021). Meanwhile, the expanding cyberspace is not able to positively impact democratization in the region, which is represented in the repressive policies and polarization among the citizen of Southeast Asia (Lee, 2021;Barendregt & Schneider, 2020;and Talamayan, 2020).…”

“…The unwillingness of the Southeast Asian governments to provide adequate policies to support and cultivate civic engagement in the political dimension of cyberspace left many ambiguous policies with multiple interpretations, which are perceived as tools for manipulations to solely protect the authorities' interests such as the UU ITE in Indonesia which is notorious for its ambiguity in perceiving critics towards the government in cyberspace, the case of Vietnam blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh under article 258 of the Penal Code, the Prachatai case of Thai article 112, and so forth (OHCHR, 2016;Sinpeng, 2017;& Tamalayan 2020) . Furthermore, some Southeast Asian governments, particularly those with low democracy index, according to EIU, took different paths in perceiving cyberactivism by ultimately minimizing political criticism in cyberspace by implementing heavily restricted policies (Economist Intelligence, 2022;Talamayan, 2020;Sinpeng, 2017;&;Paladino, 2018).…”

“…Even though cyber interaction poses a particular threat to societal and political security, the governments of Southeast Asian countries mostly applied a limited degree of restriction in contrast to Chinese policy regarding cyberspace. The restriction on Cyberspace in Southeast Asia mainly contains limitations on how people can spread false information on the internet, especially on social media, without specifically forbidding forms of critics and opposition toward the authority (Sinpeng, 2017;Talamayan, 2020;& Barendregt & Schneider, 2020).…”