June: From freedom of expression and digital rights to youth political leaders

On the regional and global stage, this month has been busy for Vietnam Rise staff as they engage in dialogue on topics such as freedom of expression, digital rights and youth voices in politics alongside global leaders.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, stated the danger activists face as governments use technology to suppress dissent and digital giants enrich themselves. For the past few months, Vietnam Rise’s own digital security Helpdesk service has dealt with cases of Vietnamese activists facing censorship via account and post takedowns, hacking and device seizure.

To advocate for freedom of expression, a Vietnam Rise Program Officer attended as a facilitator in the World Expression Forum (WEXFO). It centred on the theme ‘freedom to disagree’ and a youth program that assembles freedom of expression advocates. Occurring from 1-3 June, 2026 WEXFO gathered world-renowned experts such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, journalist and filmmaker Louis Theroux, and Megan Phelps‑Roper to discuss the state of political dialogue in an autocratising world. Alongside alumni of the WEXFO youth program, Vietnam Rise’s Program Officer helped coordinate gatherings for youth leaders and facilitate a roundtable on the state of publishing and how publishers can best support marginalised, young voices. The International Publishers Association and Frankfurt Book Fair hosted the roundtable and will collate findings for the development of a network for young writers.

Vietnam Rise moved straight from WEXFO to DRAPAC, a digital rights conference that spotlights activists from Southeast Asia. This year’s theme was Building the Commons: Scaling Collective Resources for Our Digital Futures which follows well from Vietnam Rise’s focus on sustainable social movements in a time of dwindling resources since the dissolution of USAID and other not-for-profit funders. Vietnam Rise hosted a co-learning workshop, Peer-to-peer exchange: Building youth movement actors’ mental resilience against online threats alongside Mindcare Club, a remote mental health clinic in the Philippines. The session started with brainstorming about youths’ personal experiences and coping methods in online spaces. Facilitators then helped drive an in-depth synthesis of the experiences discussed. Participants shared experiences about sexual harassment and discrimination in online gaming and activism spaces (ranging from gendered insults to the fabrication of pornographic materials using AI) and being isolated by friends for disrupting the status quo. Coping strategies included building a close network of activists who experienced the same isolation or discrimination as well as reducing online exposure by limiting screen time and engaging in physical activity.

Finally, Vietnam Rise had the opportunity to share information about Vietnam’s politically closed environment and Vietnam Rise’s work in empowering civil society at a global youth leaders conference. Participants primarily consisted of youth leaders of political parties in Europe, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. The conference was a chance for leaders from different regional contexts to share the unique challenges they face in ensuring youth voices are taken seriously and allowed to organise within political environments that show varying levels of openness/closedness.

Vietnam Rise will continue the dialogues at these conferences via our annual Social Movement Festival and other collaborations.

Vietnam Rise