Digital Governance and Rights in South Asia, and the Path Forward

Published by Tech Global Institute, this white paper s a result of 12 digital rights organizations convening in Kathmandu, Nepal, last year to share lessons in combating digital authoritarianism in South Asia. The paper analyzes the digital rights challenges in the region – state control, imposition of external regulatory models, among others – and focuses on Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The authors stress the urgency of forming a South Asian digital rights coalition: “Such a coalition would facilitate regional collaboration, enabling civil society to collectively advocate for a more equitable, locally relevant approach to digital rights.”