Asia Overview
Asian cyberspace is the setting for a diverse range of information controls, contestations, and resistance. Governments across the region struggle to balance the rapid
growth of information communication technologies (ICTs) with their concerns over
social stability, national security, and cultural values. These tensions manifest themselves differently according to each state ’ s context. The region is home to some of the
least connected countries, such as Burma, and burgeoning ICT markets such as China
and India. The spectrum of information controls across the region varies as well, with
some of the world ’ s strictest regimes of information control on one end and relatively
unfettered communication environments on the other.
The continued growth of Internet connectivity in Asia, particularly in the mobile
realm, has occurred alongside a growth in states ’ ability to monitor and control the
fl ow of information. Countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia have seen
dramatic increases in connectivity rates and mobile telephone ownership. However,
as connectivity grows, so does the legal, regulatory, and technical capacity for states
to monitor it. Both democratic and authoritarian states alike have expanded the scope
of content that is considered illegal and have increased mechanisms to control it.