Stories about East Asia from February, 2019
Life, death, and puppets: the stop-motion animation of Tomoyasu Murata
Murata, born in 1974, has produced films since at least 1998 and has recently gained attention outside of Japan.
Is your favorite movie promoting toxic masculinity? Mango Meter can tell you
"We have every right to enjoy entertainment that does not demean us, and we certainly have a right to voice our views and opinions."
Journalists, teachers, and activists targeted in attacks on free speech in the Philippines
"These are attempts by those in power to drown out the voice of the marginalized...displaying Duterte’s fear of committed journalism that seeks to inform, educate and guide the public."
Singaporean activist sentenced to 16 days in jail after hosting video chat with HK youth leader Joshua Wong
"There’s no sentence that I’d consider fair, because he should never have been charged."
Netizen Report: Both Bangladesh and South Korea are waging a ‘war on porn’ — and paving the way for political censorship
South Korea and Bangladesh are blocking porn and "obscene" content, Venezuela is blocking YouTube, and Uzbekistan has finally stopped blocking Facebook and VK.
A Tibetan-Canadian student was attacked online after winning student council elections. She thinks Beijing is to blame.
Chemi Lhamo faced a barrage of threatening comments on social media from overseas students who appeared to be from mainland China.
‘Man returns to his native Xinjiang and disappears’ — a story too common for the headlines
Nurbolat Shalayit is one of hundreds of thousands of Xinjiang minorities whose current whereabouts are uncertain.
Censored on WeChat: As tensions in China-US trade conflict rose, so did WeChat censorship
The second installment in our series looks at the most censored topic in the 2018 WeChatscope dataset: the China-US trade war.
Australia revokes Chinese tycoon's citizenship over alleged political interference in Australian politics
"...winding back CCP [Chinese Communist Party] interference as an unacceptable and counterproductive part of bilateral engagement is a step towards developing a healthy China-Australia relationship"
Japanese ads aimed at women criticized for misogyny. Again.
This is the latest in a long line of Japanese ad campaigns that have sparked controversy online for alleged anti-women messaging.
Athan: A youth group promoting freedom of expression in Myanmar
"All lawsuits filed against journalists must be withdrawn. All journalists staying under detention including Reuters journalists must be released unconditionally. Defamation must be decriminalized in accordance with international standards."
#MetooUyghur campaign asks Chinese government to prove that Xinjiang detainees are still alive
Uyghur communities from all over the world are using the #MetooUyghur hashtag to demand answers about the welfare of their loved ones.
Users flood Reddit with China censorship memes, balk at $150 million investment from Tencent
While Chinese companies regularly invest in US media companies, this makes for an unusual match.
Let the dead tell their stories about Hong Kong
A "homicide tour" seeks to explore "the meaning of life and living conditions" in one Hong Kong neighbourhood.
Censored on WeChat: A year of content removals on China's most powerful social media platform
Our team tracked censored posts from more than 4,000 public accounts covering daily news on WeChat. Here is what we found.
Japanese PM staff ‘restrict’ reporter from pressers for ‘spreading misinformation’ about environmental harm
Mochizuki apparently angered the Cabinet Office during a news conference on December 26, when she asked about the risks of environmental contamination at a controversial construction site in Okinawa.
Netizen Report: Philippine news outlet faces ‘cyber libel’ charges
Philippines DOJ takes another swing at Rappler news site, Facebook tackles disinformation in Indonesia and Russia moves to outlaw fake news.
Is there political interference in the public television network of Timor-Leste?
"There have been several attempts at political interference on me and directly on journalists to try to influence editorial content."
This Twitter account celebrates women in Japan, one short profile a day
The common theme of the daily profiles is that the celebrated women come from all walks of life, and all have experienced unique challenges and successes.
Pressure mounts for Thailand to free Melbourne-based Bahraini refugee Hakeem al-Araibi
"Australia just gave our highest award to 2 divers for risking their lives to rescue 12 Thai boys from underground caves. We know where Hakeem is. He just needs a one-way plane ticket."
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