Launch of the South Asians for Digital Rights Coalition
A United Front for Digital Rights in South Asia
19 June, 2025 — Digital repression is rising across South Asia, but so is resistance. Today, we launch the South Asians for Digital Rights (SADR) Coalition, a first-of-its-kind regional alliance of civil society organizations and digital rights defenders from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. We are united in our commitment to freedom, dignity, justice, and equity in one of the world’s most digitally dynamic and politically complex regions. Our vision is clear: a free, open, and rights-respecting digital future for South Asia.
South Asia is home to over a quarter of the world’s population and has witnessed remarkable digital growth. But alongside this innovation, we have seen a sharp escalation in digital repression: in 2024 alone, the region witnessed 111 instances of internet shutdowns. Censorship, criminalization of online speech, invasive surveillance, opaque algorithms, and regressive laws have intensified. Recent legislative developments, including India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, Pakistan’s expanded cybercrime law (PECA), and Sri Lanka’s Online Safety Act, reveal how governments are codifying control over digital spaces under the pretext of security and public order. While each country’s context is distinct, these threats are not contained by borders. When a journalist is jailed for a tweet, when biometric surveillance becomes normalized, or when internet access is denied, it sets a precedent that others often follow. That is why we must resist—together.
The SADR Coalition is our region’s collective response to this shared crisis. We bring together digital rights advocates, litigators, researchers, policy experts, and grassroots organizers into a coordinated, cross-border alliance. Through this platform, we aim to align strategies, build sustained collaboration, share knowledge, and speak with a united voice on digital rights challenges affecting billions.
We represent diverse voices from across the region and speak from our lived realities guided by conviction and a deep sense of collective care. We understand collective care as regionally conscious advocacy, aware of its ripple effects beyond immediate contexts. Resistance that focuses too narrowly inward can inadvertently harm or exclude others. We reject the scarcity mindset that breeds division and competition. Instead, we affirm that prosperity is collective, and that sustainable development depends on the interdependence of our futures. That’s why solidarity must be intentional, inclusive, and expansive. The future of digital rights in South Asia depends on our ability to come together, beyond borders and political differences, to act in common cause.
Through this coalition, we will:
- Strengthen mutual efforts and build collective power through solidarity;
- Advocate for rights-based digital governance at national, regional, and international levels;
- Promote South Asian leadership in global digital rights and technology governance conversations.
As we move forward, we invite affected communities, journalists, tech leaders, allies, and global partners to connect with us, support our work, and help us build a future where digital spaces in South Asia are truly free, inclusive, and fair.
Contact us:
Sources:
- Access Now, Keep It On Data Dashboard: https://www.accessnow.org/keepiton-data-dashboard/
- Tech Global Institute, Whitepaper: Digital Governance and Rights in South Asia, and the Path Forward: https://techglobalinstitute.com/research/whitepaper-digital-governance-and-rights-in-south-asia-and-the-path-forward/
