Karishma Vaswani, Columnist

Asia’s Pivot to Political Satire Is No Laughing Matter

January 25, 2026 at 8:00 PM UTC

Karishma Vaswani is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia politics with a special focus on China. Previously, she was the BBC's lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades.

Discontent with a growing wealth gap is pushing people toward using satire.
Photo: Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images — Discontent with a growing wealth gap is pushing people toward using satire.
Photo: Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images

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Politics in Asia is getting funnier, but the punchlines are falling flat.

From Indonesia to India, young people grappling with economic uncertainty and shrinking trust in institutions are turning to satire to express their discontent. This disillusionment is taking place across the world, but in Asia the consequences for joking about power are often far more severe, ranging from intimidation and censorship, to defamation cases and, in some instances, prison.