📲 Can you imagine showing your face & ID just to keep your social media account? That’s what the Philippines and Thailand are pushing for with mandatory social media account verification. While promises of “online safety” and “battling disinformation” look good on paper, we must treat it for what this truly is: an extension of state surveillance and a deliberate attack on political freedoms. As Manushya Foundation’s Digital Rights Advisor Jean Linis-Dinco highlights in our b

Manushya Foundation’s Digital Rights Advisor Jean Linis-Dinco warns that social media account verification pushes in the Philippines and Thailand risk turning “online safety” into a gateway for expanded surveillance and repression. “Civil societies that play with the idea of breaking anonymity in order to solve the problem of misinformation are rehearsing a dangerous illusion. Once the doors have opened, no amount of ‘guardrails’ will stop the expansion of surveillance. ” In

ICYMI: Meta launched another PR stunt in the form of its so-called 2024 Human Rights Report. In our latest opinion piece, Manushya Foundation’s Digital Rights Advisor Jean Linis-Dinco breaks down how Big Tech’s accountability theatre fuels exploitation, reproductive justice backlash, and genocide. 👉 Read the full blog here: bit.ly/MetaPRStunt #WeAreManushyan  ♾️ Equal Human Beings #Technocolonialism   #BigTechCensorship   #BigTechSuppression   #StopDigitalDictatorship

On 21 January 2026, four Thammasat University students were summoned by police for allegations of violating Section 112 and the Computer Crime Act. Their alleged “crime”? Holding a political satire banner on their own university campus. This case stems from a Facebook post by the Independent Political Satire Group of Thammasat University, showing banners expressing opinions on the monarchy. Authorities claim the banners constituted lèse-majesté because they allegedly coincide

Australia just became the first country to ban anyone under 16 from social media and call it “protection” 🚨 What it really is?  A global green light for surveillance disguised as child safety. The passage of the bill marks a dark, repressive shift in digital rights across the world. Southeast Asia, WATCH OUT: the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore are next (and we’re monitoring closely). ‼️ Manushya Foundation’s stance on banning young people from digital spaces is

What’s happening in India? India ordered all smartphone manufacturers to preinstall Sanchar Saathi, a permanent state-run surveillance app that would appear on every new device. While they revoked the plan the week after, it does not erase intent. Sanchar Saathi was marketed as public service, but in reality, it was an attempt to normalise surveillance by embedding it directly into the device itself. What is Sanchar Saathi? Sanchar Saathi is a government app presented as a to

On 14 October 2025, Manushya Foundation’s Digital Rights Advisor, Jean Linis-Dinco, represented the organization at the WSIS+20 Stakeholder Consultations, a key UN platform reviewing global digital governance. With only three minutes to speak, Jean delivered a sharp and uncompromising message: the digital world is far from equitable, and global frameworks must confront real power imbalances rather than gloss over them for the benefit of the 1%. What is WSIS+20?  The World Sum

‘𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲’ is this year’s theme, and it is all about small steps that we can take to protect ourselves from online threats.  We’re sharing some cybersecurity tools to help safeguard your digital freedom. Because in the digital era, 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲, it is deeply political. Cybersecurity matters for all of us, whether you’re an activist, a student, a worker, or si

Our 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁   “ 𝑫𝒂𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑫𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑: 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒘 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂 ”  shows that while the digital space is celebrated as a place of freedom, in reality it is increasingly hijacked by authoritarian regimes. They weaponize laws to criminalize dissent, silence marginalized voices, and restrict our right to information. 💡 But 𝗜𝗻𝗳

𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 #𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 in our digital world 🚨 Last month at EngageMedia’s #DRAPAC2025, our Founder & CEO Emilie Palamy Pradichit delivered a clear warning: 𝘀𝗼-𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗲-𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 — 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹. Speaking from the Thai context, Emilie Palamy showed how these measures risk becoming tools of 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗲�

🗣️“Under capitalism, the dead are not revived for memory or commemoration. No matter what techbros tell us. The dead are revived for commodification. Necrocapitalism is about monetising the emotional labour of mourning and redirecting it into computational systems that can be scaled and sold,” says Dr Jean Linis-Dinco, Manushya Foundation’s Digital Rights Advisor during the session hosted by NetMission.Asia at EngageMedia’s DRAPAC 2025. The session revolved around death tec

#𝗔𝗖𝗦𝗖/𝗔𝗣𝗙𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 🚨𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀🚨 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘀𝗵𝘆𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗖𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲/𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀' 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘂𝗺 (𝗔𝗖𝗦𝗖/𝗔𝗣𝗙) 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿! Join Manushya’s Founder & Executive Director, 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗺𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁, and our Digital Rig

#𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 🚨 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 🚨 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵. 🇮🇩 As protests spread across Indonesia, people are being silenced not only in the streets by brutal police crackdowns; but also 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. ❌ On 28 August 2025, after the killing of 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝗞𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗻  (21 year-old ojo driver) by police — a tragedy that went viral worldwide, exposing p

#DigitalRights 🛜 There have been updates to our DRAPAC schedule. The August 26 session on Age-gating will now take place together with tomorrow’s session, August 27. 👉Manushya’s Digital Rights Advisor, Dr Jean Linis-Dinco will join via recorded video, alongside our Founder Emilie Palamy Pradichit (online). Catch them both at “Human Rights Principles Statement on Age Gating” from 10:00–10:50 am (KL time) at Pod 1.07, AICB Centre of Excellence. 👉Also, don’t miss Dr Jean’s se

“It is baffling to watch how states that position themselves as guardians of childhood online are the same states that jail minors, lock migrant children in cages and kill teenagers in the name of so-called law and order.” - Dr Jean Linis-Dinco, Digital Rights Advisor, Manushya Foundation ✊ Five days before our engagement at DRAPAC, we at Manushya Foundation  would like to set things straight. We reject the premise that treats the passage of age gating laws as an attestation