Launch of the Digital Campaigning and Political Finance in the Asia and the Pacific Region report

The 'Digital Campaigning and Political Finance in the Asia and the Pacific Region report' authored by Professor Joo-Cheong Tham (Director, Electoral Regulation Research Network), Professor Andrea Carson (Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University), Amy Chinnappa (Lawyer and Policy Consultant), and Adhy Aman (Senior Programme Manager, International IDEA) will be launched on Tuesday 25 October at Melbourne Law School and via Zoom.

The report studies the intersection between digital campaigning in elections and political finance and its regulation in Asia and the Pacific region. In so doing, it connects the digital disruption with an existential threat to democracies across the world―money in politics. Political finance not only poses the danger of ‘policy capture’ but also, in worse scenarios, state capture by monied interests. The report maps out the nature and extent of digital campaigning in the Asia and the Pacific region, with a focus on five country case studies (Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan and Kyrgyzstan), and it studies the regulation of digital campaigning under political finance laws. It analyses the democratic implications of digital campaigning for political finance and its regulation. Recommendations are provided for regulating the nexus between digital campaigning and political finance to enhance the benefits of digital campaigning for democracies in the Asia and the Pacific region.

The report will be officially launched by Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora (Secretary-General, International IDEA), with opening remarks by Leena Rikkila Tamang (Director of Asia and the Pacific Region, International IDEA) and Warwick Gately, (Victorian Electoral Commissioner and ERRN Governance Board member). The launch will feature a panel of speakers providing commentary and a discussion with the report's authors. More information is available on the International IDEA website.

This event is jointly hosted by the Electoral Regulation Research Network, International IDEA and Melbourne School of Government.