Rights at the Core: Towards a rights-respecting digital ecosystem in ASEAN

ASEAN is setting ambitious goals to advance and lead in the digital age. The forthcoming ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2030, expected in early 2026, will steer regional digital development for the next five years. As ASEAN enters this new phase, it is crucial that its strategies align with a rights‑based approach. In 2025, Access Now, EngageMedia, FORUM‑ASIA, Oxfam, and the Wikimedia Foundation developed a briefing paper assessing digital rights across more than 16 ASEAN frameworks and documents. Through consultations with diverse civil society groups, the briefing developed recommendations on key issues such as the digital economy, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. This paper offers the first comprehensive mapping of ASEAN’s digital rights landscape. It reveals a gap between ASEAN’s ambitions and its commitments to equity and inclusion, as well as limited civil society participation in major processes. It concludes with practical recommendations for building a rights‑respecting, inclusive digital ecosystem.