Is all about Malaysia’s online censorship... Is there online censorship for Malaysia?? According to The Globe and Mail, Malaysia plans laws that will prosecute bloggers and authorities who insult Islam. In 1999, our former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir had said that there would be no online censorship. He had also advised the Cabinet to dispense with attempts on online censorship. How about our Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi?? Will there be online censorship???
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200803/r230915_922256.jpg
http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2006/pic-624b.jpgPrime Minister Adbullah Ahmad Badawi backed civil defamation lawsuits against two of the country’s most popular political bloggers, Jeff Ooi and Ahiruddin Bin Attan. According to Joel Simon, executive director of The Committee to Protect Journalist ( CPJ), the Prime Minister’s remarks and support for this legal action against bloggers send a message that could well intimidate online writers and suppress the growth of the country’s new media. In 2006, the Communications and Multimedia Act had protected internet-based publications and blogs from state censorship, helped fill Malaysia’s new gap and prohibit the online publications of “defamatory or false information”.
According to Datuk Shaziman, the government only gave “general instruction” to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to allow all blogs and websites to function provided they adhered to provisions under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 in 2008. Besides that, Datuk Shaziman stated that 127 websites and blogs have been blocked for contravention of various provisions of the act. Moreover, our Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar stated that everyone is subject to the law even websites and blogs, they did not intend to restrain people’s freedom or right to express themselves but sometimes people might publish things that are libelous, slanderous or defamatory and the government will have to take action.
According to Datuk Shaziman, the government only gave “general instruction” to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to allow all blogs and websites to function provided they adhered to provisions under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 in 2008. Besides that, Datuk Shaziman stated that 127 websites and blogs have been blocked for contravention of various provisions of the act. Moreover, our Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar stated that everyone is subject to the law even websites and blogs, they did not intend to restrain people’s freedom or right to express themselves but sometimes people might publish things that are libelous, slanderous or defamatory and the government will have to take action.
Our Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi had issued a clear warning that anyone who spreads false news on a blog or via SMS (short message system) about the country’s situation will be arrested as a threat to national harmony. Moreover, he also warned that anyone who puts inaccurate information on a blog, website or online portal could be liable and be investigated and arrested if the content troubled national harmony and let the public lose faith in the nation’s economic policies. Our Energy, Water and Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik stated that bloggers are not above the law for what they publish in cyberspace. “Local bloggers must control the contents of their blogs and be responsible. If the content is seditious, they will have to face the music,” he said.
False or inaccurate information could make people including investors to lose faith in the economy and the country’s development programs. Hey, bloggers… Don’t ever spread false news to people via internet or SMS. You might bring trouble to yourselves. Think carefully before you do so. There is online censorship in Malaysia, remember about it… XD
Feel free to drop your comment here… =)
Sources:
URL: http://www.marketingvox.com/internet-censorship-strengthens-in-malaysia-kazakhstan-and-other-countries-031803/
URL: http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Censor/cens3.html
URL: http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/08/30/who-caused-malaysia-today-to-be-blocked/
URL: http://cpj.org/2007/01/prime-minister-attacks-online-critics.php
URL: http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=6888
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