As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of the eCommerce sector with the migration of businesses to online marketplaces, such shift consequently contributed to the proliferation of counterfeit goods and pirated materials.

Through the use of the #ASEANrespectsIP hashtag, the ASEAN Network of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Enforcement Experts (ANIEE) aims to promote greater awareness on intellectual property rights, thereby easing the pressing concern on online counterfeiting and piracy. 

The common hashtag is an initiative of ANIEE as part of its broader anti-counterfeit and anti-piracy information awareness campaign, which ASEAN is working on to intensify especially amid a protracted health crisis.