Table Of ContentFAKE NEWS AND ELECTIONS IN
SOUTHEAST ASIA
This book offers a regional analysis of the impact of fake news – misinformation,
malinformation and disinformation – on electoral democracy and freedom of
expression in Southeast Asia, which has taken place in the middle of a global
health pandemic.
The book maps the impact of social media and the internet on democracy in the
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that have already been in
the throes of democratic regression for some time. Including an analysis of countries
that do not have national elections, the chapters provide detailed information
on the extent of internet and social media penetration in each country, the laws
that are deployed to reel in its political potential for critics and demonstrate the
impact on democracy or the prospects for democracy. Collectively, contributors
note that disinformation is a serious problem in the region that negatively impacts
elections and how governments’ attempts to deal with the phenomenon inevitably
lead to the targeting of dissenting voices and opposition as anti-state fake news.
The deleterious impact on democracy and freedom of expression, facilitated by a
citizenry that is prone to manipulation of facts, appears to be the standard modus
operandi in the regional authoritarian complex.
This book is the first to undertake a regional analysis of disinformation in
Southeast Asia and is a significant contribution to the literature on democracy,
elections and disinformation. It will be of interest to researchers in the fields of
Political Science and Asian Politics, in particular Southeast Asian Politics.
James Gomez is Regional Director at Asia Centre, Thailand. He provides strategic
oversight for the development and regionalisation of the Centre.
Robin Ramcharan is Executive Director at Asia Centre. He oversees the research
and publication projects of the Centre.
Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series
The aim of this series is to publish original, high-quality work by both new and
established scholars on all aspects of Southeast Asia.
Public Expenditure and Income Distribution in Malaysia
Mukaramah Harun and Sze Ying Loo
Territorial Change and Conflict in Indonesia
Confronting the Fear of Secession
Ratri Istania
Marginalisation and Human Rights in Southeast Asia
Al Khanif and Khoo Ying Hooi
Fake News and Elections in Southeast Asia
Impact on Democracy and Human Rights
James Gomez and Robin Ramcharan
Islam, Education and Radicalism in Indonesia
Instructing Piety
Edited by Tim Lindsey, Jamhari Makruf, and Helen Pausacker
For more information about this series, please visit: www .routledge. com /
Routledge- Contemporary- Southeast -Asia -Series /book -series /RCSEA
FAKE NEWS AND
ELECTIONS IN
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Impact on Democracy and
Human Rights
Edited by James Gomez and Robin Ramcharan
First published 2023
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Robin Ramcharan and James Gomez;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Robin Ramcharan and James Gomez to be identified as the
authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-032-37984-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-37982-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-34291-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003342915
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
CONTENTS
List of Figure vii
List of Tables viii
List of Contributors ix
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xiv
Abbreviations xvi
1 Introduction – Fake News and Elections in Southeast Asia 1
James Gomez and Robin Ramcharan
2 Shaping the Fake News Discourse: Laws, Electoral Arenas
and the Emergence of Truth as a Public Interest 16
Lasse Schuldt
3 Fake News in Cambodia: A Pretext for Preventive
Political Repression 45
Marc Piñol Rovira
4 Fake News and Violence against Women in
Indonesia’s Elections 63
Nukila Evanty and Fenny Tria Yunita
5 Najib Tun Razak, 1MDB, Social Media and the Fall of
Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election 84
Azeem Ahmad Farouk and Azrina Husin
vi CONTENTS
6 Fake in the Mainstream: The Media, the Military and
Myanmar’s Elections 101
Kenneth Houston
7 Fake News and Elections in Myanmar 121
Hunter S. Marston
8 Fake News and State Violence: How Duterte Hijacked the
Election and Democracy in the Philippines 145
Wataru Kusaka
9 Singapore’s Anti-Fake News Law: Grabbing the Election by
Using Falsehoods to Discredit the Opposition 166
Roy Y.L. Ngerng
10 Thailand’s 2019 General Election: Anti-Fake News Practices
and the Securitisation of Media Spaces 197
Attasit Pankaew and Wasin Punthong
11 Political Criticism as Fake News: How Brunei, Laos and
Vietnam Suppress Democracy 217
James Gomez and Yawee Butrkrawee
12 Conclusion – The Future of Democratic Elections in
Southeast Asia 237
James Gomez and Robin Ramcharan
Index 247
FIGURE
8.1 Transition of Legitimacy and Reconfiguration of Violence 147
TABLES
2.1 Laws Criminalising the Distribution of False Information
in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand 17
Annex I: List of Interviewees (Chapter 3) 61
4.1 The Percentage of Women in the Lower House (House of
Representatives) in Some Southeast Asia Countries 67
4.2 Ratio of Male and Women Candidates in 2019 Legislative
Election 70
4.3 The Number of Women in Parliament of 2019–2024 74
4.4 Women Politicians in the Leadership of Political Parties 75
4.5 The Electability of Women Candidates in 2019 National
Election 76
9.1 Key Clauses in POFMA 171
9.2 Penalties for the Communication of False Statements
under POFMA 172
9.3 Unnamed Individuals Targeted by POFMA 174
9.4 COVID-19-Related Posts Targeted by POFMA 175
10.1 NCPO Orders That Contain Fake News-related Provisions 203
10.2 Legal Provisions Associated with Fake News in Thailand 205
11.1 Major Internet Service Providers (ISP) 220
11.2 Internet and Social Media Penetration in 2022 222
11.3 World Press Freedom Index 2022 225
11.4 Existing Legislation-Related Addressing “Fake News” in
Brunei, Laos and Vietnam 226
12.1 Emergency Declarations and Committees, 2020 242
12.2 Temporary Legislation 2020 242
CONTRIBUTORS
Yawee Butrkrawee is Digital Rights Project Manager (Mekong) at EngageMedia.
Apart from grant management and project coordination, he has contributed to
several development and human rights projects through advocacy and evidence-
based research on issues related to freedom of expression. His areas of expertise
include internet freedoms, digital rights, media freedoms and anti-fake news laws
in Southeast Asia. He was previously Programme Coordinator at Asia Centre.
Yawee holds a Master’s degree in development studies from SOAS, University
of London.
Nukila Evanty is a legal researcher with the Faculty of Law, Jember University,
Indonesia. She guest lectures and is a consultant for UN agencies in Indonesia on
Sustainable Development and Gender issues. Nukila has more than 15 years of
experience in human rights and social justice activism, and is involved in advo-
cacy for the struggle for marginal, minority and vulnerable group issues. She is a
graduate of the Faculty of Law, Diponegoro University in Semrang in Indonesia;
Faculty of Law, Groningen University in The Netherlands; and Faculty of Law,
University of New South Wales in Australia.
Azeem Ahmad Farouk is Associate Professor and Director at the Center for
Policy Research and International Studies (CenPRIS) Universiti Sains Malaysia
(USM). He specialises in democracy and democratisation in Malaysia. He holds a
PhD in Political Science from the University of Malaya and was visiting scholar
institutions in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. He writes regularly
for a CenPRIS’ column that appears in the New Sunday Times.
James Gomez is Regional Director, Asia Centre (Bangkok, Thailand and Johor
Bahru, Malaysia) – a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to create human rights
