Stories about South-Asia from May, 2017
Online Trolls Attack Critics of India's Aadhaar State ID System
Critics of the Aadhaar biometric ID system are being criticized by state agencies and trolled by anonymous handles on Twitter.
Police Threaten Maldivian Bloggers Abroad With Arrest Over Twitter
Four independent Maldivian bloggers and activists living overseas have been issued arrest warrants by police over the past week. Apparently, they were targeted because they promote secularism or secularists.
Netizen Report: In India and Jamaica, Women Face Threats for Resisting Misogyny Online
In Malaysia and Azerbaijan, officials go after media for political coverage. Meanwhile, with major social media sites banned, Kashmiris have turned to local platform KashBook.
Mumbai Technologists Are Using TV Spectrum to Bring More Internet Access to India
Poor Internet infrastructure leaves the vast majority of Indians limited to mobile Internet only, making it difficult to engage deeply with Internet technology.
‘Cyber Warrior’ Group Threatens to Extort Indian Women on Facebook
Threats of character assassination and extortion can carry severe real-life consequences, especially for women.
Bangladesh's LGBT Community Launches a Blog Commemorating Slain Activists
"How can I live in this country, where if I were to be killed people would rejoice over a cup of tea that there is one less LGBT person?"
Is India's Aadhaar System an Instrument For Surveillance?
"Repeat after me: Aadhaar is surveillance technology masquerading as secure authentication technology."
The World’s Largest Biometric Database is Leaking Indian Citizens’ Data — But Keeps On Growing
In spite of multiple court orders making UID voluntary and limited to selected schemes, the government continues to expand its scope.