LocationsHumanity in Tech to Prevent Violent Extremism – The Story of Saijai Liangpunsakul
February 25, 2026
Saijai speaking on supporting Asian countries’ resilience to violent extremism in the digital space at the event.
Saijai Liangpunsakul is the founder of Stop Online Harm, which runs an online ambulance constantly at the ready for people being harassed online. Anyone who meets her understands that Saijai’s motivation to create such a safe space stems from a profound understanding of how technology and digital spaces can propagate online violence and extremism, but also her belief in the power of technology to create positive change – and in her ability to see humanity where others may only see harm. This ability is grounded in key lessons she has learned over the course of her life. Lessons she now brings to UNDP’s new programme on preventing violent extremism online in Asia, including UNDP Thailand’s campaign on misinformation and hate speech ahead of and during the recent elections.
Saijai grew up in Narathiwat, one of the Southern provinces of Thailand bordering with Malaysia that has long been plagued by unrest. She believes that growing up in this environment has been foundational for her. While she experienced violent incidents at a young age, she mostly remembers the day-to-day reality of a diverse and peaceful community.
Being from Narathiwat, also meant that Saijai had to leave home to pursue an education from a very young age. This educational journey took her to Pattani, Costa Rica, Canada, the US and eventually Egypt, which reinforced her believe in diversity, in focussing on what people have in common.
While studying Arabic in Egypt, she witnessed the Arab Spring. A historic moment which made her realise the power of technology to make positive change, and set her on her path to use tech to help people.
‘It was such a hopeful time in which activists, young people, my Egyptian friends were turning to social media as a means to express themselves, to create a movement.’
Once finished with her studies, Saijai started working at the intersection of technology and health, collaborating with community health workers to design mobile apps to support women’s health. Travelling to places like Pakistan, Zambia, India, South Africa, and Malawi, she experienced firsthand the impact that sharing technology had on people’s lives.
‘In some areas where we worked, community health workers had never seen a phone before.’
It taught her the incredible impact for good technology can have, but also the importance of prioritising the end-user, real people in the development of such tools. A lesson which was reinforced when she moved to Myanmar and witnessed the introduction of mobile technology.
‘The leapfrog in the country saw it change almost overnight from no access to internet to the next day everybody having a smartphone. Imagine people never having had access to internet before, the next day everybody having access to the BBC and reading the news.’
While Saijai once again recognised the benefits technology brought the people, this time she also saw challenges. The amount of information available all of a sudden opened the door to misinformation and fake news. She witnessed how neighbours were turned against each other.
‘One of the nicest people that I was friends with, I was surprised how it changed them because of the information that they consumed online. And it is just so personal and so powerful to see that that information that was online changed someone’s action and behaviour.’
Gradually she moved from a focus specifically on health to working on access to information, supporting efforts to provide information to Myanmar people on the environment, health, politics and more.
As Saijai shifted her focus and watched digital spaces transform she arrived at another important insight: access to information alone is not enough without digital literacy.
‘When I grew up there was no Facebook or social media, so we received information mainly through the mainstream news channels. When I go on social media, I just see a lot of polarisation. There is a lot of hateful comments. If you are not aware of how the algorithms work, you can end up seeing the world from a one-sided perspective.’
This growing hostility online, resulted in her being targeted herself. And her own experience with online harassment showed her clearly how limited the recourses are for those who are victimised online.
‘[Online] there is no space for people to think differently or if violence happens and you want to speak up and disagree, you are always bombarded with hate messages, and there is no place for this person to go.’
Saijai realised the crucial importance of protecting changemakers who are operating in an environment where hate speech and extremist content is both prioritised and monetised.
Together with a diverse group of women united by their shared experience of online attacks, she set up Stop Online Harm, an initiative intended to provide a one-stop-shop for safety, solidarity and support for those finding themselves in the same predicament.
‘Stop Online harm came from my own experience with online harassment. And I feel like this is the service that I wish there had been then. A place for people to reach out to when they are under attack, when they feel so alone.’
This is why Stop Online Harm, in addition to other work, offers an online ambulance that functions in a similar manner to the one you call when you have an accident offline. With the online ambulance Stop Online Harm provides three areas of support; help with the removal of harmful content, psychosocial support, and legal support.
Crucially, the end goal is not just to make the survivor feel safe again, but to get them to a point where they feel empowered enough to keep going, to not be bullied away from speaking out or standing up against the radicalised and extremists.
While Saijai already became involved with UNDP as a consultant on AI and Hate Speech earlier, in 2025 she started working more closely with UNDP Thailand, starting with her delivering a training on misinformation and hate speech for over 60 journalists from across the country under the UNDP Media Fellowship Programme.
More recently, she has become a partner in the implementation of the ‘Supporting Asian countries’ resilience to violent extremism in the digital space’ programme, a new partnership between UNODC and UNDP funded by the EU.
In the lead up to the elections in Thailand in 2026, UNDP Thailand and Stop Online Harm collaborated on a digital campaign on the harms of misinformation and how to stop the spread of fake news which has reached 200,000 people online so far. She is also involved with a post-elections mapping exercise of incidents of violence and online harm together with UNDP and partners.
Building further on these initial efforts with UNDP Thailand around preventing violent extremism online, she sees two clear priorities; educating on the risks of access to information without digital literacy, and ensuring protection for those empowered to speak out against violent extremism. She strongly believes that it is irresponsible to build the capacity of changemakers, in particular youth, without also making sure they can do so safely and know what to do and where to go if things go wrong.
A crucial part of these two areas of work is to set an example that when someone is harassed or attacked online, it is not only accepted but important to seek help. Too often, people who are attacked online hesitate to ask for help. They may not trust it will make a difference or assume that no one will care. This reluctance contributes to the normalisation of online harassment, where survivors see it as something they just have to learn how to deal with.
‘I think that one of the key contributions this project can have, is that this changemaker will think; ‘Oh. This happened to me and it is okay to ask for support.’ It will send a signal for more people to get help.’
Saijai’s priorities for the collaboration with UNDP are exemplary of her ongoing believe in the positive power of technology and digital platforms. In spite of what she has seen and experienced herself, she still sees the potential. Specifically when technological solutions are designed and implemented with the end-user, the people in mind, when the human is prioritised in tech.
