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UPDATE - MALAYSIA
18 June 2007
Government sets up task force to circumvent "no Internet censorship" Bill
of Guarantee
SOURCE: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), Bangkok
**Updates IFEX alerts of 9 May and 10 April 2007**
(SEAPA/IFEX) - Following repeated threats by ministers and members of
Parliament over the past three years to control online content, the
Malaysian government is setting up a task force to look into how it might
apply existing legislation on new media without contravening the country's
Bill of Guarantee against Internet censorship.
On 13 June 2007, the Cabinet decided that a task force of senior officers
from ministries, a government agency, the Attorney-General's Chambers and
the police will scan existing legislation that can be used to check
"pornographic and seditious" online content.
The local newspaper "New Straits Times" quoted an unnamed source as saying
that websites and blogs on race, religion, politics and those critical of
the government would be targeted.
More ominously, the task force will look at how the overbroad 1948 Sedition
Act can be expanded to cover online material.
SEAPA shares the concerns of its local partner, the Centre for Independent
Journalism (CIJ), that this marks the start of official censorship of the
Internet and is likely to further curb free speech in a country whose media
already suffer from severe self-censorship.
"Although the government expressly states that it will continue to honour
the Bill of Guarantee, drafted to attract foreign technocrats and
investors, the decision to set up the taskforce shows that the government's
intention to control the Internet remains strong," CIJ said in a 15 June
2007 statement ( http://www.cijmalaysia.org/display_story.asp?ID=509 ).
"We urge the government to balance alleged online rumours with an open and
free press by repealing the 1984 Printing Presses and Publications Act
(PPPA), thus increasing the credibility of the press as a source of
independent information," CIJ said.
The PPPA is the main legislation limiting press freedom in Malaysia. The
law mandates all publishers to obtain a government permit, renewable
annually, thus creating a climate of self-censorship among journalists,
editors and publishers.
SEAPA joins CIJ in calling for a parliamentary select committee on
communication rights, which will include diverse groups to study issues of
freedom of speech on the Internet and the mass media.
For further information, contact Roby Alampay, Executive Director, or Chuah
Siew Eng, Alerts Coordinator, at SEAPA, 538/1 Samsen Road, Dusit, Bangkok,
10300 Thailand, tel: +662 243 5579, fax: +662 244 8749, e-mail:
sieweng@seapa.org, seapa@seapabkk.org, Internet: http://www.seapabkk.org
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of
SEAPA. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
SEAPA.
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