EngageMedia
type: channel
description: Digital Rights. Open Technology. Video for Change.
date: 2026-05-29T13:08:42Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
generator agent: https://wordpress.org/
items: DRAPAC26: where the Asia-Pacific digital rights movement meets
items: Myanmar Digital Coup Quarterly: February 2026 – April 2026
items: Songs for Harmony Celebrates the Launch of “A Tu Tu” Mini-Album
items: Meet the people behind the ‘bayanihan’ spirit: DRAPAC26 co-hosts
items: The DRAPAC26 programme is now live!
items: Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact: How The Black Kite Amplifies Resilience Beyond Screens in Bangladesh
items: Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact: How Hai Anis Translates Digital Risk into Youth Empowerment in Malaysia
items: Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact: How On Our Own Time Works on Platform Labour and Digital Rights in the Philippines
items: Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact: How Echoes of Exile Builds Transgender Visibility and Cultural Change in Bangladesh
items: Myanmar Digital Coup Quarterly: November 2025 – January 2026

DRAPAC26: where the Asia-Pacific digital rights movement meets
type: item
creator: Prapasiri Suttisome
date: 2026-05-29T13:04:57Z
subject: Blog
subject: Digital Rights
subject: Event
description: The 2026 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly is just one week away, bringing together over 500 human rights defenders, activists, policymakers, technologists, academics, and more from across the regional digital rights movement. DRAPAC26 in Manila, Philippines, is being held at a time when the Asia-Pacific region faces profound and escalating challenges to digital rights and internet […]
encoded: The 2026 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly is just one week away, bringing together over 500 human rights defenders, activists, policymakers, technologists, academics, and more from across the regional digital rights movement. DRAPAC26 in Manila, Philippines, is being held at a time when the Asia-Pacific region faces profound and escalating challenges to digital rights and internet freedom, and spaces for rights defenders continue to shrink. Hear from the Foundation for Media Alternatives, DAKILA – the Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, and EngageMedia about what you can expect from DRAPAC26 and – if you haven’t registered – why you should consider joining us in Manila. <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1068" height="1600" src="https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/0.png" alt="" class="wp-image-75091 size-full" style="object-position:58% 41%" srcset="https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/0.png 1068w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/0-467x700.png 467w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/0-768x1151.png 768w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/0-1025x1536.png 1025w" sizes="(max-width: 1068px) 100vw, 1068px" /> Phet Sayo EngageMedia DRAPAC is a flagship programme for EngageMedia to bring together civic tech actors from the region – including human rights defenders, advocates, thought-leaders, researchers, policy-makers, and an emerging, next-generation of actors. Please join us at DRAPAC26, the fourth edition of the regional DRAPAC assembly. DRAPAC26 will be a space for us to think together, learn from each other, shape agendas, make connections, contribute to field building, and reach solidarity in our positions around challenges for the region. The financing of the civic tech ecosystem is in crisis. At the same time, we face a rise in authoritarianism and democracy backsliding, making working against digital repression risky as well as operationally u…

Myanmar Digital Coup Quarterly: February 2026 – April 2026
type: item
creator: EngageMedia Editorial
date: 2026-05-28T07:45:40Z
subject: Blog
subject: Digital Rights
subject: digital coup quarterly
subject: Myanmar
subject: Myanmar digital coup quarterly
subject: Myanmar Internet Project
description: In this edition, covering February 2026 to April 2026, it can be observed that the junta continues to enact new laws to justify further online surveillance, internet shutdowns and other forms of digital repression.
encoded: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1306" height="978" src="https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DCQ-Feb-Apr-2026_2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-75073" srcset="https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DCQ-Feb-Apr-2026_2.jpg 1306w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DCQ-Feb-Apr-2026_2-700x524.jpg 700w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DCQ-Feb-Apr-2026_2-768x575.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1306px) 100vw, 1306px" /> EngageMedia is publishing English translations of the Myanmar Digital Coup Quarterly produced by the Myanmar Internet Project. This post covers updates from February 2026 to April 2026 and highlights digital oppression incidents documented during that period. Read the original post in Burmese here, and learn more about EngageMedia’s broader work to support digital rights in Myanmar on EngageMedia.org/Myanmar. Read the other editions of the report. Digital oppression issues from February 2026 – April 2026 The period from February to April 2026 marks the first three months following the fifth anniversary of the coup. It is also the period when the sham parliament, resulting from the coup military junta’s fake election, began its sessions. The junta continues to enact new laws to justify further online surveillance, internet shutdowns and other forms of digital repression. Some clauses within these newly enacted laws were designed to allow for greater access to the public’s digital footprint. This report documents incidents of digital repression between February and April 2026. Summary of Digital Repression Incidents in February 2026 Mobile Phone and Internet Shutdowns Arrests and Legal Actions Related to Online Expression The Military Council’s Surveillance Measures on the General Public Mobile Phone and Internet Shutdowns In February 2026, in addition to the junta’s communication blackouts, there were also telecommunication restrictions by revolutionary forces. (a) Communication Bl…

Songs for Harmony Celebrates the Launch of “A Tu Tu” Mini-Album
type: item
creator: EngageMedia Editorial
date: 2026-05-28T06:36:09Z
subject: Blog
subject: Digital Rights
subject: A Tu Tu
subject: Digital Spaces for Dialogue
subject: Music for Change
subject: Songs for Harmony
description: The Songs for Harmony team, formed under the Digital Spaces for Dialogue project, co-created the songs in the mini album which explores themes of kindness and social harmony through music and storytelling.
encoded: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="1200" src="https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/signal-2569-05-26-213051.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-75023" srcset="https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/signal-2569-05-26-213051.jpeg 1600w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/signal-2569-05-26-213051-700x525.jpeg 700w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/signal-2569-05-26-213051-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/signal-2569-05-26-213051-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /> Let’s sing together, Open your heart, Gently Breathe to fill your heart အတူတူ ဆိုမယ် နှလုံးသားလေးဖွင့်ထားပါ ညင်ညင်သာသာ အသက်လေးဝဝရှူ Catch “Poem of Happiness – ပျော်ရွှင်ခြင်းကဗျာ” and two other songs in Song for Harmony’s mini-album called “A Tu Tu”, which was publicly launched at Alliance Française de Chiang Mai on May 23, 2026. More than 40 educators, artists, youth, and organisations working with children and music celebrated the launch of the children’s songs and podcast series, which explores themes of kindness, diversity, emotional well-being, and social harmony through music and storytelling. Listen to the songs here “I am very happy to let my child contribute his talent to this project. For me, this project is really helpful for children to learn social harmony. I hope the team creates more songs that use the languages and cultures of Myanmar,” said Ma April, mother of a child-singer. Medical doctor Dr. Phway Nu Moe, who is also a mental health practitioner and a singer-songwriter, shared, “The project is really suitable for children in the Myanmar community. I hope the team creates more songs later that encourage the awareness of nature and life skills that help children survive in a modern society increasingly exposed to artificial intelligence.” “My mom told me that of all the things I have done, this is the most meaningful. So, I am happy t…

Meet the people behind the ‘bayanihan’ spirit: DRAPAC26 co-hosts
type: item
creator: Prapasiri Suttisome
date: 2026-05-25T07:27:49Z
subject: Blog
subject: Digital Rights
subject: Event
description: Drawing inspiration from the Filipino spirit of bayanihan, DRAPAC26 is co-owned and co-led by a coalition of organisations with years of experience advancing digital rights across the Philippines and the wider region. Get to know the organisations behind DRAPAC26.
encoded: The 2026 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC26) is rooted in the Filipino spirit of bayanihan, the community practice of neighbours working together in times of disaster or relocation to carry their houses to safer ground. Drawing inspiration from bayanihan, DRAPAC26 is co-owned and co-led by a coalition of organisations with years of experience advancing digital rights across the Philippines and the wider region. Before the three-day convening this June 8 to 10 in Manila, Philippines, we invite you to get to know the organisations behind DRAPAC26, and the sessions they will be hosting. Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) FMA assists civil society organisations (CSOs) and other development stakeholders in promoting and defending the right to information and communication by advocating for openness in the governance of information societies, working for human rights in digital environments, and ensuring strategic access and responsible use of ICTs while optimising such technologies for sustainable development, and addressing gender concerns in the information society. At DRAPAC 2026, FMA will host the session From Patchwork to Framework: Bridging ASEAN’s Data Protection Divide —The Role of Civil Society, which will explore how civil society can help ASEAN move from fragmentation toward meaningful, people-centered data protection—not only through policy influence, but through the co-creation of practical tools that enable real-world compliance and rights protection. DAKILA – a Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism An organisation building a movement of modern heroism by innovating platforms for human rights advocacy, social change campaigning, and creative activism. Founded in 2005 by a group of artists and activists, DAKILA uses the power of art, culture, and community to creatively spark social consciousness formation towards social transformation rooted in human rights and democracy. At DRAPAC26, DAKILA is organising Exploring the Narrative Frontier…

The DRAPAC26 programme is now live!
type: item
creator: Prapasiri Suttisome
date: 2026-05-12T13:33:16Z
subject: Digital Rights
subject: Event
description: After much anticipation and deliberation, the 2026 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC26) programme is now live on our official website. DRAPAC26 takes place in Manila on June 8 to 10, 2026, co-hosted by the Foundation for Media Alternatives, DAKILA – Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, and EngageMedia. From over 450 activity proposals, the three-day event […]
encoded: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1100" height="618" src="https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DRAPAC26-pre-branding-announcement-4.png" alt="" class="wp-image-74750" style="aspect-ratio:1.7799448258163855;width:810px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DRAPAC26-pre-branding-announcement-4.png 1100w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DRAPAC26-pre-branding-announcement-4-700x393.png 700w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DRAPAC26-pre-branding-announcement-4-768x431.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /> After much anticipation and deliberation, the 2026 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC26) programme is now live on our official website. Browse the full programme DRAPAC26 takes place in Manila on June 8 to 10, 2026, co-hosted by the Foundation for Media Alternatives, DAKILA – Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, and EngageMedia. From over 450 activity proposals, the three-day event will comprise a combination of about 60 sessions, exhibits, and more activities that reflect this year’s theme of “Resilient Digital Futures: Co-creating Collective Resources Across Movements”. DRAPAC26 also channels the spirit of bayanihan – traditionally depicted with farmers together carrying houses to safer ground – to navigate shifting dynamics, by co-creating, co-developing, and co-owning the common resources and infrastructure the digital rights movement needs to thrive. The DRAPAC26 programme includes (but is not limited to) sessions on surveillance and spyware accountability, AI governance, platform power, disinformation, internet shutdowns, and technology-facilitated gender-based violence. The agenda also goes deeper into building and expanding the infrastructure needed for human rights defenders to sustain our work: funding resilience, collective archiving, digital security peer learning, and feminist approaches to technology design. Register n…

Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact: How The Black Kite Amplifies Resilience Beyond Screens in Bangladesh
type: item
creator: King Catoy
date: 2026-04-12T02:34:19Z
subject: Digital Rights
subject: Video for Change
description: 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.
encoded: 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. This is the world that filmmaker Taosin Md Bahadurshah Zafar captures in his short film The Black Kite, a story grounded in the lived realities of Bangladesh’s 2024 internet shutdowns. Through the lens of a disabled freelancer struggling to maintain his work and dignity amid digital silence, the film makes visible the cascading harms of internet blackouts; harms that are too often normalised or ignored. As part of EngageMedia’s Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact programme, The Black Kite has already moved beyond the screen, catalysing conversations, workshops, and practical tools that empower communities to resist digital repression and assert their rights to connectivity and economic survival. Using the specially designed Impact Campaign Builder, filmmakers identify what audiences take away from their films, set concrete advocacy goals, connect with partners, and plan activities that translate cinematic insights into tangible change. For Taosin, this extension meant bringing The Black Kite into real-world spaces where stories like the movie characters’ are lived every day. The Black Kite and Lived Realities On 13 December 2025, Taosin facilitated a Digital Rights and Internet Safety Workshop in Khulna, bringing together 35 participants—freelancers, online entrepreneurs, and workers embedded in Bangladesh’s digital economy. Organised in collaboration with Sonamukh Smart Academy and the Caregivers Institute of Bangladesh, the session opened with a screening of The Black Kite, setting a shared cinematic reference point for conversations that quickly …

Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact: How Hai Anis Translates Digital Risk into Youth Empowerment in Malaysia
type: item
creator: King Catoy
date: 2026-04-12T02:23:46Z
subject: Digital Rights
subject: Video for Change
description: 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.
encoded: 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. These realities are at the heart of filmmaker Azura Nasron’s short film Hai Anis, which follows Anis, a young teenager drawn into the manipulative strategies of online predators. By revealing how harm is often masked as care, trust, or understanding, the film foregrounds the real-world consequences of digital manipulation and underscores the urgent need for greater awareness, practical skills, and youth agency in online spaces. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="810" height="1080" src="https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-4.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74591" srcset="https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-4.jpeg 810w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-4-525x700.jpeg 525w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-4-768x1024.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px" /> As part of EngageMedia’s Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact programme, Hai Anis has moved beyond the screen to become a practical tool for digital rights education, sparking discussions, workshops, and the development of a modular Transmedia Education Toolkit. Through the Tech Tales Youth Impact Campaign Builder, Azura translated the film’s narrative into an impact strategy that pairs storytelling with concrete learning outcomes and pathways for advocacy. Screenings as Spaces for Dialogue and Care On 5 December 2025, Hai Anis was screened at Pesta Right-Yat, followed by a moderated discussion led by filmmaker Azura Nasron with Farahin Wahid, from Jurnal Sang Pemula. The screening became an entry point into conversations on online safety, consent, and digital boundaries, issues that shape young people’s everyday digital lives. As pa…

Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact: How On Our Own Time Works on Platform Labour and Digital Rights in the Philippines
type: item
creator: King Catoy
date: 2026-04-12T02:18:21Z
subject: Digital Rights
subject: Video for Change
description: 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.
encoded: 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. These realities are explored in On Our Own Time, directed by Kat Catalan. The film follows delivery riders in Metro Manila, revealing how algorithmic systems and labour conditions intersect to produce rights violations and everyday insecurity and laying the groundwork for practical advocacy. Produced in collaboration with Mayday Multimedia, the team Kat worked with to co-produce the film, implement the impact campaign, and develop advocacy materials that situate riders’ lived experiences within the broader gaps and limitations of existing labour legislation. As part of EngageMedia’s Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact programme, Kat translated the film into a practical advocacy tool through the Riders Watch Toolkit. Developed with the Tech Tales Youth Impact Campaign Builder, the Riders Watch Toolkit responds to questions raised by both young riders and veteran labour organisers during community screenings. It provides practical guidance on digital and labour rights and equips riders and organisers to navigate and challenge the evolving landscape of platform work. The Riders Watch Toolkit: Mapping the Realities of Platform Work <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="1068" src="https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-10.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74713" srcset="https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-10.jpeg 1600w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-10-700x467.jpeg 700w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-10-768x513.jpeg 768w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-10-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w"…

Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact: How Echoes of Exile Builds Transgender Visibility and Cultural Change in Bangladesh
type: item
creator: King Catoy
date: 2026-04-12T02:11:19Z
subject: Digital Rights
subject: Video for Change
description: 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.
encoded: 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. Digital spaces often amplify these dangers: harassment, doxxing, non-consensual sharing of intimate content, and hate speech force many into social or physical exile, leaving their lives and stories invisible to society at large. In this context, storytelling becomes more than art; it is a form of advocacy, bearing witness to lives too often erased. It is against this backdrop that filmmaker Lamea Tanjin Tanha confronts these realities in her film Echoes of Exile. The film centres on the lived experiences of two hijra women from different generations, revealing the emotional, social, and structural consequences of marginalisation. As part of EngageMedia’s Tech Tales Youth Extended Impact programme, Lamea has translated Echoes of Exile into a catalyst for advocacy and cultural change. Using the Tech Tales Youth Impact Campaign Builder, she mapped how the film could move from storytelling to tangible impact by co-founding CHITRA Collective, turning Echoes of Exile into a sustained platform for advocacy. The collective aims to host more local and international LGBTQIA+ film screenings and dialogues, amplifying transgender and gender-diverse voices while fostering ongoing cultural and social change in Bangladesh. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="1200" src="https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74441" srcset="https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1.jpeg 1600w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1-700x525.jpeg 700w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w" siz…

Myanmar Digital Coup Quarterly: November 2025 – January 2026
type: item
creator: EngageMedia Editorial
date: 2026-02-11T03:49:48Z
subject: Blog
subject: Digital Rights
subject: digital coup quarterly
subject: Myanmar
subject: Myanmar digital coup quarterly
subject: Myanmar Internet Project
description: 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.
encoded: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1536" height="1024" src="https://engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05022026.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74348" srcset="https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05022026.jpeg 1536w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05022026-700x467.jpeg 700w, https://www.engagemedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05022026-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px" /> EngageMedia is publishing English translations of the Myanmar Digital Coup Quarterly produced by the Myanmar Internet Project. This post covers updates between November 2025 to January 2026 and highlights digital oppression incidents documented during that period. Read the original post in Burmese here, and learn more about EngageMedia’s broader work to support digital rights in Myanmar on EngageMedia.org/Myanmar. Read the other editions of the report. Digital oppression issues from November 2025 to January 2026 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. ​​During preparations for the sham election, the military regime monitored and arrested individuals for online discussions related to the election around the clock, and it was observed that they took action to impose penalties. Additionally, there was an increase in internet disruptions and the use of the “Person Scrutinization and Monitoring System (PSMS)” for inspections. Due to such internet shutdowns and restrictions, Myanmar continued to be listed alongside China as the country with the worst internet freedom in Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2025 report. This report compiles findings related to incidents of digital repression experienced between November 2025 and January 2026. Summary of Digital Repression Incidents Experienced in November 2025 Mobile Phone and Internet Shutdowns Arrests and Legal Actions Related to Online Ex…