Room: STG-9 Sascha Funk 2014 and 2015 have seen quite some interesting developments in Southeast Asia. With the realization of AEC (ASEAN Economic Community - similar to the EU) closing in, many of the Southeast Asian states that are part of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations - if you want to now more, check here) try to become more open and more democratic. Since the idea of democracy in theory is obviously not the worst one, many countries started to move towards open elections and similar democratic values.  However saying you use and follow democratic values and also doing so is often something quite different. Many times democracy seems to annoy the people in charge in participating countries that are new to the approach. It is not easy to actually have a working democratic system and still maintain all the power over ones people. Especially when the world wide web becomes part of the picture.  The problem is, we have too much democracy here! - Prime Minister (after a military coup) of Thailand.  Not only the leader of the military junta in Thailand who now serves as Prime Minister sees democracy critical, other leaders and governments chime in on the 'the western democracy does not work here' complaint. While that can be argued from both sides one thing that now takes place quite frequently bothers everyone who is concerned about freedom of speech and information. Governments start to regulate the democracy they offer now more harshly and started to rule with more of an iron fist.  It is not only Thailand though. Other countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Brunei and even Singapore are at eye level in terms of restricting (online) freedom and are also quite fast with pulling the trigger on blocking websites and online services. Especially social media and critical newspapers are the target of ASEAN Cyber Police forces in order to maintain law and order in the online space. Produced by Voice RepublicFor more podcasts visit http://voicerepublic.com