Manufactured Identity, Public History, and Technological Innovation in Asia

Abstract

At Radio Free Asia (RFA), our job of keeping local people informed of news and information relevant to their lives has never been more challenging. Authoritarians understand very well the threat that the free flow of information presents to their control of citizens and have added innovative online tactics to their methods of intimidation, manipulation, and censorship. Monitoring, surveillance, interception, manipulation, sock puppets, and other bots are being developed and deployed. The criminalization of free speech threatens journalists. The subjects of our reports and our sources are digitally tracked, punished, harassed, and jailed. Sophisticated voice recognition software is allowing governments to target anyone who talks to a journalist, even their own family members.