Launch of Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index Reports

The Digital Asia Hub in collaboration with Ranking Digital Rights, Open Culture Foundation and Open Net Korea organised a series of events at the Digital Rights Assembly Asia-Pacific held in Chiang Mai between 22 – 26 May. 

At the panel discussion “Adapting global standards to local contexts: Uncovering the policies and practices of digital platforms and telecoms in Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan,” we launched findings relating to the performance of 40 companies and services on their human rights commitments. The companies spanned multiple sectors and thematic areas: in Taiwan, the digital services industry including social media, job banks, e-commerce and telecom companies were assessed; in Malaysia, superapps, digital news media, social media and telecom companies were studied; in South Korea the research focussed on telecom companies and their expanding service areas.

The Hub supported the workshop “Research Against the Tech Machine: Building a community of corporate accountability researchers & advocates with Ranking Digital Rights” conducted by Ranking Digital Rights. The workshop shared resources that could support new adaptations of the methodology in different contexts.

Finally, in the roundtable session “Facing tech power: using evidence-based research to hold tech companies accountable in Asia-Pacific” the hub and the project partners engaged with activists and advocates in the region on a broader discussion that unpacked regional priorities and opportunities for corporate accountability.