i-SEA Fellowship Programme 2025: Shaping Responsible Digital Creators

The inaugural i-SEA Fellowship Programme 2025 brought together 40 outstanding student content creators from across Southeast Asia for a regional learning journey focused on information integrity, ethical storytelling, and positive digital citizenship. 

 Selected from over 450 applications, the i-SEA Fellows took part in a month-long programme of online masterclasses and mentorship sessions led by academics, journalists, media professionals, and experienced creators from organisations including Google, TikTok, Mediacorp, and SPH Media. The Fellowship is a regional initiative by IN-cube at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), Nanyang Technological University, in partnership with Temasek Foundation. 

The programme culminated in a week-long residency in Singapore, where fellows gathered at WKWSCI for keynote lectures, research presentations, collaborative workshops, industry visits, and a content creation hackathon. The residency opened with a keynote address by Mr Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Social and Family Development, who highlighted the importance of online safety and the influential role of content creators in shaping responsible digital spaces. 

Fellows also heard from leading practitioners and researchers, including Atom Araullo, broadcast journalist and UNHCR Philippines Goodwill Ambassador, and Kong Manjing, co-founder of Just Keep Thinking, who encouraged fellows to build trust, authenticity, and social impact through their content. Industry immersion visits to TikTok Singapore, SPH Media, and Mediacorp provided behind-the-scenes insights into platform governance, newsroom operations, and multi-platform production workflows. 

The Fellowship concluded with a hackathon finale at SPH Media, where teams presented creative solutions addressing misinformation, online harms, and ethical content creation. With the guidance of mentors and feedback from a distinguished jury, fellows demonstrated creativity, collaboration, and a strong commitment to making a positive impact online.