Different Shades of Norms: Comparing the Approaches of the EU and ASEAN to Cyber Governance

ABSTRACT

In order to better capture the dynamics of global cyber governance, it is important to go beyond the established West vs. non-West dichotomy in the scholarly literature and thus develop a more nuanced understanding of the variations of cyber governance norms and approaches within and beyond the traditional Western camp, as well as to take into account the role of regional organisations in reshaping the normative framework of cyber governance. Indeed, the European Union is emerging as a new norm entrepreneur and autonomous regional actor in cyber governance by proactively projecting its regulatory and normative power in the digital sphere. In contrast, the development of ASEAN’s cyber governance norms is a process of norm subsidiarity based on ASEAN’s unique diplomatic culture and normative structure characterised by the ASEAN Way and the principle of ASEAN centrality.

KEYWORDS:

• cyber governance
• norms: Westlessness
• EU
• ASEAN

Notes

1 See Chen and Yang’s (2022, 1–14) discussion of Westlessness.

2 See Gao’s (2022, 15–30) article on China’s approaches to cyber governance.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Xuechen Chen

Xuechen Chen is an Assistant Professor in Politics and International Relations at New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the London Asia-Pacific Centre for Social Science, King's College London, both in London, United Kingdom.

Yifan Yang

Yifan Yang is an Associate Professor in International Politics at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. Email: [email protected]