Welcome back to Slow News Days, a now-and-then newsletter on journalism and journalism-adjacent topics in the Philippines.
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Misery shared is misery halved, they say, but there is little comfort in knowing that Southeast Asia has been sliding towards authoritarianism along with many parts of the world.
Thailand, for example, is holding elections that have seen the following familiar things:
“An increase in pro-establishment and biased information that praises the government at the expense of opposition political groups
Disinformation campaigns that target and harass political members of under-represented groups to decrease their political activism
The creation of distorted electoral information that creates confusion
And campaigns to spread inflammatory political content with the aim of further polarizing Thai society.”
Journalists in Indonesia are barred from coverage in favor of official photographers and media relations officers. The government also restricted internet access in Papua and West Papua until a court told it that was illegal.
Malaysia has laws that prohibit the posting of “offensive content with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass”, penalize “intentional insults”, and “conducing to mischief.”
The Centre for Independent Journalism in Kuala Lumpur notes that “legitimate and necessary comments for upholding democracy and ensuring accountability” could be considered an insult under the law.
Not for the first time, someone commented at the Internet Freedom in Southeast Asia conference last week that “governments seem to be copying each other.”
Not a lot of insight this week — it has been a long and tiring one and I am also still processing ideas from the conference — except that, as also said at the conference, “it’s time we also started copying each other” on tactics and campaigns.
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Probably the biggest news in the Philippines this week, the acquittal of former Sen. Leila De Lima on the second of three drug cases she is facing. Detained for more than six years on cases that she says are political, De Lima might actually get to go home while the third case is being heard.
Not in the news as much but still important, an Abra court has dismissed rebellion charges against seven people — including Northern Dispatch correspondent Niño Oconer — for lack of probable cause.
PumaPodcast found itself in the middle of controversy this weekend over this “Catch Me If You Can” episode featuring Duterte propagandist Sass Sasot.
Personally, I wasn’t ready for it and I don’t see much gain in interviewing a bad faith actor in good faith. But! As Bulletin columnist Tonyo Cruz points out on Twitter, press freedom isn’t just for the press we like and the uses we approve of.We also have a podcast: ‘Why Naman?’ talks about the wage gap, labor unions and a ‘living wage’ this week.
Meanwhile, Rappler correspondent Joann Manabat was stalked and then sent creepy messages by a man claiming to be from the military.
He reportedly sent Manabat photos that “showed her covering the Workers Alliance of Region III Labor Day rally near the roundabout at San Nicolas Public Market in Angeles City” and offered scoops in exchange for her friendship.Also, a new SWS survey suggests that a little less than half of Filipinos considered it dangerous to release content critical of the Marcos Jr. administration. The figures are actually lower than those in a similar survey in 2021, when Duterte was still president.