From 2020 to 2024, ICNL worked with FORUM-ASIA, Media Defence and over a dozen local civil society organizations to address authoritarian measures enacted throughout the Indo-Pacific region in response to COVID-19.

This updated monitoring assessment from a working group of local Myanmar civil society organizations (CSOs) and networks explores the challenges and threats encountered by both registered and non-registered CSOs in the post-coup period.

To empower parliamentarians (MPs) to advocate for internet freedoms, APHR & ICNL presents this Toolkit for Parliamentarians: Promoting Internet Freedoms in Southeast Asia.

This report makes recommendations that aim to ensure internet freedoms and freedom of expression in Malaysia, creating an environment where people can safely discuss issues related to race, religion, and royalty without fear and self-censorship.

Written by ICNL consultant Meghna Sharma, this briefer examines how authoritarian COVID-19 policies in the Indo-Pacific region have affected civil society's freedom of expression in Asia. Drawing from the ICNL-ECNL Covid-19 Civic Freedoms Tracker, the briefer examines various repressive measures, including censorship of speech through criminalization measures, harassment in the name of targeting ‘fake news,’ cyber-attacks, and other methods used to suppress the free expression of civil society actors.

Authored by ICNL consultant Kirana Anjani, this briefer dives deep into the challenges faced by civil society in Southeast Asia as a result of authoritarian COVID-19 policies adopted by many governments in the region, to the detriment of civic space and effective COVID-19 response. Drawing from data in the ICNL-ECNL Covid-19 Civic Freedoms Tracker, the briefer examines examples of rampant digital surveillance by governments, lack of transparency and access with respect to critical public health information, and attacks on both community COVID-19 initiatives and medical frontline workers.

To get a full picture of how COVID-19 measures have impacted civil society in the Asia-Pacific region, ICNL conducted a survey in December 2020 to assess government practices. We received responses from organizations in 14 countries across the region.

In this report, ICNL presents the first cross-regional survey of SLAPPs in the Global South, along with the first rigorous comparative analysis of anti-SLAPP policy responses undertaken in both the Global North and South.

In this report, the UNSR on Freedom of Expression registers alarm that some efforts to combat the coronavirus disease pandemic may be failing to meet the standards of legality, necessity, and proportionality. The Special Rapporteur highlights five areas of concern, showing that access to information, independent media, and other free expression rights are critical to meeting the challenges of the pandemic.

Made up of more than 40 countries, Asia defies easy categorization. On the one hand, many countries are home to vibrant civil society sectors. On the other hand, in too many countries, state regulatory controls on civil society are becoming increasingly restrictive.

In this issue of the Civic Freedom Digest, ICNL highlights some of the key challenges and opportunities for civic freedoms across the Asia-Pacific region.

In this inaugural publication of the Civic Freedom Digest, ICNL highlights some of the key challenges that digital technologies pose to civic freedom, as well as successful civil society efforts to combat these threats.

PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 26, 2016 The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) is pleased to announce today the launch of its “Civic Freedom Monitor,” a rebranded […]

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This report from Freedom House analyzes instances of mass social protests in 12 countries in order to identify best practices in promoting and protecting the right to peaceful assembly.

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PUBLISHED: JULY 11, 2012 ICNL is pleased to announce the inclusion of 5 new country reports on the Civic Freedom Monitor: Belarus, Nepal, El Salvador, Malaysia and Panama. With the new […]

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This document has been provided by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL). ICNL is the leading source for information on th e legal environment […]

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The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law Volume 4, Issue 1, September 2001 By Mary George * Abstract The Malaysian law of charities consists of a […]

The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law Volume 4, Issue 1, September 2001 Regional Charity Law Conference in Australia  A conference entitled “Charity Law in the […]