Religious Freedom in Southeast Asia: Techno-Authoritarianism and Transnational Influences
Jan 25
Jan 25th 3:30pm
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing
Religious Freedom in Southeast Asia: Techno-Authoritarianism and Transnational Influences
Thursday, January 25, 2024
3:30 -5:00 PM ET
Virtual
Hearing Transcript
Hearing Summary
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) hosted a virtual hearing on how Southeast Asian countries use techno-authoritarianism to undermine religious freedom and are increasingly borrowing such tactics from China and Saudi Arabia.
Despite growing civil society activism and economic development in recent decades, religious freedom conditions throughout Southeast Asia continue to stagnate or, in many places, decline. With the rise of technology and digital surveillance, alongside other transnational influences from outside the region, religious freedom is under increasing threat. The Burmese military disseminates hate speech and calls for widespread violence through social media to perpetrate atrocities against the predominantly Muslim Rohingya. In Indonesia, blasphemy charges increasingly cite social media as the source of the offending incident. Across Southeast Asia as a whole, transnational influences from outside the region threaten to change the political and legal landscape with major consequences for religious freedom and related human rights.
The first panel discussed trends in technology and digital surveillance throughout Southeast Asia impacting religious freedom. The second panel discussed transnational influences from outside of Southeast Asia, such as China and Saudi Arabia, that seek to fundamentally alter the religious freedom landscape.
Opening Remarks
- Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chairman, House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party
Recorded Remarks - Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA)
Recorded Remarks - Abraham Cooper, Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Frederick A. Davie, Vice Chair, USCIRF
Written Remarks - Stephen Schneck, Commissioner, USCIRF
Written Remarks
Panel I
- Kirril Shields, Program Manager, Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Written Testimony - Michelle Lee, Graduate Researcher, Columbia University
Written Testimony
Panel II
- Rana S. Inboden, Senior Fellow with the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, University of Texas at Austin
Written Testimony - James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies, University of Tasmania
Written Testimony - Andrew Khoo, Co-Chair, Constitutional Law Committee, Bar Council Malaysia
Written Testimony
Submitted for the Record
Statement from The Sikh Coalition
This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should register online and can email [email protected] for any questions or to schedule an interview. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please contact [email protected].