AUTHOR=Putra Bama Andika 

TITLE=Fake news and disinformation in Southeast Asia: how should ASEAN respond?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Communication

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1380944

DOI=10.3389/fcomm.2024.1380944

ISSN=2297-900X

ABSTRACT=Southeast Asian nations are vulnerable to fake news and disinformation due to the lack of digital literacy, growing dependence upon online platforms, and the non-democratic nature of ASEAN member states; ASEAN has agreed in the past years to decide, at the normative level, the importance of countering fake news and disinformation. However, it lacks a collective, regional approach; ASEAN  needs to define what fake news and disinformation consist of, elevation to a non-traditional security threat, and establishment of an ASEAN-centered fast-checking network as feasible policy options to counter fake news and disinformation in the region; Special attention is needed to consider ASEAN's philosophical foundations of non-interference, non-intervention, and respect for sovereignty, which allows state practices of surveillance, legal prosecutions, firewalls, and censorships to be maintained