On a July morning in 2024, Bangladesh’s internet went dark. This was no minor inconvenience. For freelancers, digital entrepreneurs, students, and families, the shutdown severed access to income, safety, and community. It underscored a deeper reality: internet shutdowns in Bangladesh are not technical disruptions, but assaults on rights and livelihoods, disproportionately impacting working-class communities and gig workers.
In an increasingly connected digital landscape, the internet offers young people connection and opportunity, while concealing serious risks. Teenagers navigating online spaces are often exposed to exploitation, harassment, and grooming that unfold quietly and out of sight.
Platform workers in the Philippines face exploitative and often invisible working conditions. Delivery platforms use algorithms to control work, reduce autonomy, and prioritise profit over basic rights. While gig work offers flexibility, it comes with unstable income, opaque systems, and limited legal protections, leaving workers vulnerable and excluded.
Transgender and hijra communities in Bangladesh navigate a world of invisibility and risk. Even after Bangladesh legally recognised a “third gender” in 2014, transgender and hijra communities continue to face entrenched stigma and discrimination, both online and offline.
The period from November 2025 to January 2026 was one during which the military junta maintained its usurped power and also oversaw a sham election tailored to its interests. Amid increasing internet disruptions and surveillance, human rights organisations have also made various efforts to counter the military council's information dissemination platforms.
Join us from June 8 to 10, 2026, for the DRAPAC Assembly in Manila! We're now accepting session proposals to populate the assembly’s three days. Applications for both session proposals and fellowship applications close on Sunday, March 22, 2026.
EngageMedia is seeking reliable and experienced travel agencies to provide efficient, cost-effective, and ethically responsible travel management services. Apply by 27 February 2026.
Building on the successes of DRAPAC23 Chiang Mai in 2023 and DRAPAC24 Taipei in 2024, DRAPAC25 Kuala Lumpur created space for meaningful dialogue and action to protect and advance digital rights across the region.
EngageMedia reports the latest media monitoring findings from 2025, covering 74 cases of AI and emerging technology-related incidents. It documents a significant rise in AI incidents across small to disaster-scale categories, nearly quadrupling from 2022 to 2024. The report highlights incidents affecting the environment, civil liberties, and businesses.
Mark your calendars: The 2026 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC) will hold its fourth edition from June 8 to 10, 2026 in Manila, Philippines! The DRAPAC26 Assembly expounds on the previous year’s theme of collective digital futures and recenters its focus towards the movement’s co-creation of collective resources.
