Internet Censorship in Malaysia

11 websites have so far been blocked in Malaysia for having obscene materials and seditious messages, Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Dr Mohd Ruddin Abdul Ghani said.

Besides blocking the websites and blogs, he said the ministry has also drawn up long-term programmes in collaboration with CyberSecurity Malaysia to boost awareness on cyber security.

Dr Mohd Ruddin said it was not difficult to block websites and blogs compared with emails featuring advertisements and pornography.

He said there was no proper mechanism to check such material spreading through e-mails, but the authorities could control and halt blogs.

However, the Cabinet will not obstruct the movement of information in the Internet because of the Bill of Guarantee, which promised free-flow of information when the Multimedia Super Corridor was first set up, he said. [...I think blocking websites is surely obstructing the movement of information]

Take note of what'
s been happening in Malaysia these past few days since popular blogger and political commentator Raja Petra Kamarudin was imprisoned on Tuesday after a trial which saw him charged with sedition for having written a blog post.

If the Malaysian government was truly worried about bloggers effecting social unrest, now they have it. Remember, this is a country where any politician worth their mutton has a blog, and even the old goats now blog too.

Ex-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has a highly-read blog, as does PM hopeful Anwar Ibrahim.

They set up their blogs, and they try to close down our blogs, said Raja

Raja is one of the sharpest voices both online and off in Malaysia.

It has been a tumultuous time for blogging and online expression in Malaysia. With the ongoing court cases with blogger and online news portal editor, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, as well as the detention of Malay language blogger, Abdul Bakar aka ‘Penarik Beca’, it is with little surprise that it has been reported that Malaysian foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, called for the creation of a council or other form of mechanism to monitor bloggers.

News reports stated that Dr Rais Yatim believed that Malaysia has sufficient sanctions under the Sedition Act 1948, but he believed that there might be insufficient enforcement under the Act. Because of this, Dr Rais was said to opine that establishing a council would assist in both sanctions and enforcement.

Malaysian bloggers were up in arms again when blogger Bakaq aka ‘Penarik Beca’ was detained for sedition recently. Bakaq, whose real name is Abdul Rashi Abu Bakar, was detained (and since released) for defacing the Royal Malaysian Police crest by allegedly substituting the tiger in the emblem with a dog.

According to newspaper reports, the 50-year old was taken from his home by four plainclothes policemen, who had also seized the blogger’s laptop and mobile phone.

It was reported that Bakaq was arrested under the Sedition Act 1948, which states: 4. (1) Any person who… (c) prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or reproduces any seditious publication…shall be guilty of an offence.

Bakaq’s seditious publication also included alleged derogatory remarks by him on his blog about Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan. It was reported that Bakaq had claimed that Musa was controlled by Chinese crime syndicates.

A joint press statement by Malaysian’s National Alliance of Bloggers and the Centre for Policy Initiatives was released on the same day of Bakaq’s detention condemning the move. Bloggers were riled, and some began a Free Bakaq online movement.

Bakaq was reported to have been released the following day, and is required to report in person to the Federal Commercial Crimes Investigation Department on August 20th 2008. Although he had apologised for replacing the tiger in the police logo with a barking dog, Bakaq was reported to have said, I defended and still defend what I wrote.

This year has seen the government dealing with blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin (or RPK) for sedition, while there are ongoing investigations against blogger Sheih, also for sedition. Blogger Bakaq was taken in recently for questioning, also for alleged sedition. Aside from this, RPK faces a defamation action. As such, the stance of the government against blogger appears quite clear. Critics have called for less focus on alternative news, but rather greater accountability and transparency. They have also called for the abolition of the legal shackles on the mainstream media.

On a possibly related issue, bloggers have reported that RPK’s news portal, Malaysia Today, might have been blocked by authorities. Apparently, the news portal cannot be accessed through any TM connections. TM is run by Telekom Malaysia, Malaysia’s largest Internet service provider. Online news site Malaysiakini has confirmed in its report that RPK’s Malaysia Today has been blocked by the order of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Amidst uproar from Malaysian netizens, an announcement by the Energy, Water & Communications Minister, Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansur, has put a new kink in the plot. Datuk Shaziman was reported to have said that the government had not ordered the Malaysian Today website to be banned.

The banned news portal Malaysia Today was up and running yesterday after being blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM).

The portal was blocked on Aug 27 after Internet Service Providers in the country received notices from the commission to ban the website.

The move by the commission sparked debate because under the Multimedia Super Corridor Malaysia 10-Point Bill of Guarantees, the Government promised to ensure no Internet censorship.

Update: Still Blocked

4th September 2008

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission's (SKMM) directive to Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to the Malaysia Today portal still stands pending an investigation to determine if its editor should be charged.

SKMM chief operating officer Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, when contacted Wednesday, said an investigation was underway to determine whether or not to charge the portal's editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin under Section 211 or 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

Update: Flip Flop Decision

14th September 2008

Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin said he was not surprised at the flip flop decision and considered the whole situation ridiculous.

He said he would leave the old website as it was and those wanting access to his website could continue doing so at mt.m2day.org/2008, which was set up after his initial www.malaysia-today.net website was blocked.

A prominent anti-government internet campaigner has been arrested in Malaysia.

Raja Petra Kamarudin was held under the country's oppressive Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial.

He was accused of posting an article that insulted Islam.

His arrest comes a day after the country's army chief threatened people not to make remarks that could damage race relations. General Abdul Aziz Zainal called for stern action to be taken against anyone stoking racial tension in the country.

Raja Petra was detained by police at his home near Kuala Lumpur, two weeks after his anti-government website Malaysia Today was closed down.

Independent online news outlets and blogs flourish in Malaysia, says the BBC's Robin Brant in Kuala Lumpur, and Raja Petra had been a constant thorn in the government's side before his arrest.

Earlier this year, he wrote a piece suggesting Najib Razak, Malaysia's deputy prime minister, may have been linked to the murder of a Mongolian model.

The crackdown on dissent comes amid a race row that has threatened to engulf the government, our correspondent says. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had earlier suspended a member of the governing party who had described Malaysia's ethnic Chinese and Indians as "squatters".

Two newspapers have been put under investigation by the Interior Ministry for their reporting of the row. Also Malaysian advertisers on  Malaysia-Today have been visited by Commercial Crime Division and told to pull out their ads from the website immediately.

The Malaysian blogger Syed Azidi Syed Aziz, blogging as kickdefella, has been arrested. From initial reports, it is not clear if he was arrested for inciting the public to fly the national flag upside-down or for an article he wrote.

Other reports suggest that Syed Azidi is being investigated under the Sedition Act.

Kickdefella's arrest does not come as a surprise, considering the uproar he created when he suggested bloggers post their flags upside down on their blog sites. On 22 August 2008, it was reported that he was under police probe. It has been reported that Syed Azidi himself feared he would be arrested because of his online appeal to fly the national flag upside down as a sign of protest that the nation was in distress.

A prominent anti-government blogger in Malaysia has been detained for two years on charges of insulting Islam.

Raja Petra Kamarudin has been held without trial under controversial internal security laws which could see him detained indefinitely.

He was arrested on 12 September as part of a crackdown on dissent by the Malaysian government, which is facing a mounting challenge from the opposition.

Raja Petra's lawyer said the order was a big blow to civil liberty.

The BBC's Robin Brant in Kuala Lumpur said the well-known blogger had been a thorn in the side of the Malaysian government, using his blog to become one of its most vociferous critics.

Raja Petra, himself a Muslim, was accused of insulting Islam and inciting racial tensions through an article he published on the Malaysia Today website.

The arrest came shortly after he used his blog to accuse Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak, of involvement in the 2007 murder of a Mongolian woman - a charge Mr Razak strongly denies.

The jailing of Raja Petra Kamarudin, a self-described risk-taker who has led Malaysia's lively blogging culture, has come to symbolize the government's new assault on Internet expression. On September 12, police raided Raja Petra's residence, seized documents, and arrested the popular blogger under the draconian Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.

Two weeks later, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar ordered the detention extended for two years on charges that Raja Petra published seditious and anti-Islamic articles on his blog, Malaysia Today. The government, signaling a wider crackdown on dissent, detained a newspaper journalist and an opposition politician the same day.

...Read full article

In what lawyers described as a landmark ruling, a court in Malaysia ordered the release of one of the country's best-known bloggers, ruling that the government acted beyond its authority in invoking a threat to national security.

Raja Petra Kamarudin, who was arrested September 12 and detained without trial, was expected to be released later Friday.

Lawyers have long complained that Malaysia's mildly authoritarian government uses the Internal Security Act as a tool against the opposition. The act allows for indefinite detention without trial. Raja Petra, one of the most vocal critics of the current government, was detained for comments posted on his Web site that the government said insulted Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad. He was also accused of posting articles that defamed the country's leaders and incited hatred against the government.

The court ruled that these were not sufficient grounds for detention under the Internal Security Act. The government can appeal the decision but the judge, Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad, ordered that Raja Petra be released without delay.

Tommy Thomas, a prominent Malaysian human rights lawyer, estimates that more than 20,000 people have been detained under the act.

Update: Exile

26th April 2009. See article from advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org

Popular Malaysian blogger and editor of the Malaysia Today website, Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), failed to attend his sedition trial on April 23, 2009. As a result, the Sessions Court in Petaling Jaya issued a warrant of arrest against RPK. News reports state that Sessions Judge, Rozina Ayob, issued the order after prosecutor, DPP Shahidani Abd Aziz, applied for the warrant due to his absence. DPP Shahidani was reported to have said that the prosecution had no choice but to get the order to proceed with the trial.

On his website Kamarudin said that he had gone into  exile over a family dispute arising from comments about the Perak royal family

Blogs should not be censored as long as bloggers are responsible in their writing, said former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said this when answering a question from the public at a book signing session.

Bloggers should make fair comments in their articles and not undermine others, he said after signing copies of his illustrated biography titled Mahathir Mohamad: An illustrated biography and a book based on his blog titled Chedet.com - Blogging to Unblock.

As long as you don't threaten to kill people in your blog, there shouldn't be any censorship, he added.

Recent news reports state that Information, Malaysia's Communications and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, announced that bloggers using locally hosted websites may be required to register with the authorities.

According to Rais, registration was one of the measures the government was considering to prevent the spread of negative or malicious content on the Internet.

Respected Malaysian blogger, Ahirudin Attan of Rocky's Bru, was reported to have said that the proposal was effectively the government's bid to control what Malaysians were writing online.

Ahirudin said the move would merely encourage bloggers to host their blogs overseas. Blogger and activisit, Marina Mahathir, was reported to have said that the Government really should “get real”, as the move “is just going to make Malaysia look ridiculous in the eyes of the world.”

JThe digital age has been weighing heavily on former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad's mind.

He broached the subject in two separate talks. On 16 May, he spoke about Internet porn at Bloggers Universe Malaysia 2009. In his speech he said he regretted the pledge he made not to regulate the Internet when he was prime minister.

I wish we can control... When we started the Multimedia Super Corridor, we promised the people that we will not censor the Internet. But at times, I regretted this. Dr Mahathir said he had surfed porn sites just to see how easy it is for a child to do so. My God, it was so easy. All you've got to do is to put 'SEX' and you get everything, all the filth in the world would be shown to you - in motion.

But Internet censorship is out, he said: While in the past, we can close down the printing shops, we can seize their papers, we can do a lot of things, today, it is just impossible.

Despite a guarantee of no censorship in Malaysia's 'Multimedia Super Corridor', Datuk Seri Rais Yatim's ministry is evaluating the feasibility of putting an Internet filter blocking undesirable websites — similar to China's aborted Green Dam software. [although that's not really described in the rest of the article]

The study is to be completed by this December and the results will be handed to a shadowy unit monitoring blogs and websites although the decision on implementation will lie with the National Security Council headed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Critics say any move to filter the Internet is against the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Bill of Guarantees apart from being largely ineffective as most Internet surfers can circumvent filters through proxy servers.

The move comes on the back of proposals to register bloggers, most of whom are said to be anti-government, and the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition parties to have a larger Internet presence.

According to tender documents seen by The Malaysian Insider, the study will

• evaluate the readiness and feasibility for the implementation of Internet filter at Internet gateway level, through assessments on the existing infrastructure and existing products in the market.
• evaluate and estimate costs for the implementation.
• investigate the existing legal framework in addressing content filtering and no censorship issue, including the impacts that are caused by the implementation to Internet users and the Malaysian economy.

The Malaysian government have stepped in quickly to deny a plan to impose sate internet filtering.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said there was too much going against filtering, making it ineffective. He said with the ease of information flowing globally, any move to filter Internet access here would only breed public discontent: In this borderless and IT age, information flows freely... the government has no desire to implement Internet filtering.

Najib was commenting on a statement by Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, who said they were looking at blocking access to pornographic websites.

It had been earlier reported that Rais' ministry was evaluating the possibility of an Internet filter similar to China's Green Dam Youth Escort software.

There is no need to censor political content on the Internet, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said during his tenure as prime minister, he did not censure information from the Internet and hoped the present Government would keep the status quo.

Dr Mahathir did acknowledge, however, that there is too much filth and violence on the Internet and that it should be vetted by the Government.

But if people are not instigating violence, then it should not be censored, he said, adding that political content, such as blogs and online news portal should not be restricted.

Yesterday, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim confirmed that there were plans to develop an Internet filtering system, although only for pornography.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-president Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye welcomed the Government's decision to filter pornography on the Internet, saying that pornography could lead to crime and social problems. Lee said if the Government had decided to filter the content on the Internet, it would have received a negative response from the public: Any form of censorship, in this ICT era, will be unpopular as it is contrary to the need for transparency, accountability and the free flow of information.

Dismissing a news report that the government was designing software to block websites, Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said that three ministries have been tasked to look into ways to curb the spread of lies and seditious materials on the Internet.

He said that the ministries involved would look at instances of sedition, fraud and child pornography on the Internet to provide law enforcement agencies with the necessary information.

The ministers involved are the Home Minister, Information Communication and Culture Minister and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

Malaysian bloggers who incite hatred or harp on sensitive issues like race and religion in their postings can be prosecuted for sedition, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

He said the Government would put in place a mechanism to monitor and prevent seditious content from being displayed on blogs: The proposed mechanism will not only protect Islam or the Malays but all Malaysians.

Hishammuddin said issues relating to the monarchy, race or religion were sensitive in a plural society like Malaysia and there must be some laws to prevent seditious postings on the Internet: In the past we didn't have such problems but with the advent of cyberspace, such seditious postings could probably hurt the feelings of certain communities.

Hishammuddin said the proposed move was not meant to clamp down or censor the Internet...BUT...to maintain the peace and harmony among the people in the country: There are a few irresponsible bloggers; I'm not saying all have the tendency to post sensitive issues. There should be some boundaries when posting in blogs. Irresponsible bloggers can cause disunity and derail the 1Malaysia concept.

Hishammuddin said the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry, the Prime Minister's Department, the Attorney-General's Chambers, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and police will discuss the issue and come out with proposals for the monitoring mechanism.

The Malaysian government claimed that it efforts to enhance legal provisions and policies to deal with illegal and immoral activities on the Internet will not lead to the removal of provisions under laws ensuring no censorship of the Web.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Internet had given rise to cyber-threats which were a real concern to the nation due to the illegal and immoral activities in cyberspace and the Government was forced to look at ways to curb such activities: Nevertheless, as we know freedom of speech is not absolute, it must come with responsibility, (because) what is illegal and immoral should be the same for both the online and offline environment, he told reporters.

He said the Bill of guarantees and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 provide for no censorship of the Internet and this would be maintained.

A Malaysian state government searched for a new site for a Hindu temple, bowing to pressure from Muslim residents who staged a gruesome protest against its planned construction that triggered debate about religious intolerance.

Authorities in central Selangor state tried to reach a compromise in talks with residents of the Muslim-majority neighborhood in the state capital, Shah Alam, where the temple was to be built. The meeting descended into chaos when protesters shouted insults at Selangor Chief Minister Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and other lawmakers, according to a video of the meeting posted on Malaysiakini, an independent news Web site.

The protesters insist the temple would be too close to their homes and could generate excessive noise and traffic, which would disrupt their concentration during Muslim prayers they ludicrously claimed.

Cow Head Protest

Based on article from prachatai.com

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has criticised the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) over its request to online news portal, Malaysiakini to take down videos related to a controversial protest against the relocation of a temple in Shah Alam, close to the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

CIJ executive director Gayathry Venkiteswaran said the request was unwarranted as it is an attempt by the government body to silence the messenger, in this case the media, from reporting news.

She was referring to the letter sent to Malaysiakini by the MCMC requesting it to remove two videos from its website. One of the videos was a footage from the protest where a group of residents, mainly Malay Muslim dragged a severed cow head to the premise of the state government office to protest the relocation of a Hindu temple to their residential area on 28 August. Cows are generally regarded with respect by most Hindu devotees.

Despite the action, there was no immediate police investigation into the protest, which civil society groups condemned as legitimising violence and hatred. In the last week, the Home Minister has come out in defense of the protestors and even described them as victims in the issue. The Prime Minister has come out more strongly against the actions of the protestors and the authorities have promised to investigate the matter. The Home Minister's statement was made in an environment where activists, critics and opposition political parties have very little space for expression as the media is overwhelmingly controlled by the ruling government and where their public demonstrations have been met with heavy-handed tactics by the state.

Update: Cow Head Protestors charged with sedition

11th September 2009. Based on article from news.bbc.co.uk

Six Malaysian Muslims have been charged with sedition for parading the severed head of a cow through the streets of Shah Alam in Selangor state last month. The men were protesting against the building of a Hindu temple near a mosque in the area. Some of the demonstrators stamped and spat on the cow's head.

The case has stoked tensions between Malaysia's Muslim majority and the Indian, mainly Hindu, minority to whom cows are considered sacred.

Twelve of the protesters were charged with illegal assembly, which could see them fined and jailed for up to a year.

Six were also charged with sedition - for promoting hostility between different groups - and could face an additional three years in jail.

Defence lawyer Salehuddin Saidin said his clients were carrying the cow head to illustrate the state government's stupidity - and did not intend to offend local Hindus: For Malays, the cow symbolises stupidity, not an insult to any other religion, Salehuddin claimed.

The authorities in Selangor have now found an alternative site for the Hindu temple, further away from the mosque.

Update: Reporters without Borders supports malaysiakini.com

25th September 2009. Based on article from rsf.org

Reporters Without Borders has pledged its backing to independent news website Malaysiakini which has decided to resist an order to remove two news videos judged to be offensive by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

The commission told the website in a letter on 3 September that it considered the two film clips offensive and intended to upset people, and particularly the Indians. The penalty for refusing to comply is a fine of 50,000 ringgit (14,325 dollars) and one year in prison.

The website www.malaysiakini.com had posted two video clips accessible only to subscribers to the site, the first on 28 August showing demonstrations by Malay Muslims against the building of a Hindu temple in their neighbourhood, in which they spat on and trampled the bloodied head of a cow, an animal sacred to Hindus. The second, on 2 September 2009, featured interior minister, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein, speaking at a press conference at which he urged demonstrators not to use violence, while defending their right to protest.

But in a change of stance, on 3 September, the minister ordered proceedings against the demonstrators. The removal order was made under the Communications and Multimedia Act of 1988 banning all content that is indecent, obscene, false, threatening or offensive with the intention or harming, abusing, threatening or harassing a third party .

The Malaysiakini website is right to resist the censorship the government is trying to impose on it. The authorities should understand that it is footage that shows something that happened, which may indeed be embarrassing for some authorities but does not constitute an offence , the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

Malaysia's Ministry of Information Communication and Culture has rebuffed allegations the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) abused its power in controlling the new media and condemns comparisons to Adolph Hitler's secret Nazi police Gestapo .

The ministry said in a statement that the allegations showed that certain groups were attempting to tarnish the image and ridicule the commission as an independent body that regulates the country's Internet facilities and content. It noted that regulatory measures undertaken by the MCMC, Malaysia's ICT regulator, had always been transparent, fair and balanced .

In fact, the commission is an agency that upholds and protects government policies. This has been proven because to date, Malaysia is among the countries that do not impose any restriction on the Internet, except for Web sites that contain pornography, threats to the national security and fraud, the ministry said. It confirmed that certain sites had been closed through legal processes, in line with provisions under the Communications and Multimedia Act.

The ministry said comments by owners of Web sites that had accused the MCMC of purportedly closing down their sites and acting like Gestapo were slanderous. What had occurred on the day in question was a technical disruption that resulted in the Web sites concerned to be inaccessible to the public, it said.

The ministry did not specify the sites it referred to in its statement but in the past month, the MCMC has been accused of pulling the plug on Malaysia Today, a blog known for its anti-government stand. The Commission had also been investigating online political news portal Malaysiakini over the posting of two allegedly offensive video clips. The political news site later refused to comply with a Sep. 3 order issued by the MCMC to remove the videos.

The investigation had generated a deluge of negative publicity for the government, including statements from international lobby groups describing the MCMC's action against Malaysiakini as harassment .

A Malaysian court has charged a blogger with posting comments that insulted a late state sultan.

Khairul Nizam Abdul Ghani pleaded not guilty at a court in central Negeri Sembilan state. He was accused of insulting Sultan Iskandar Ismail of southern Johor state, who died Jan. 22, The Star and New Straits Times newspapers reported.

He was charged with improper use of network facilities by transmitting comments deemed obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive. The offense carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a fine.

It was unclear what Khairul Nizam wrote. It has been removed from his blog and lawyers and court officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last year, several people were charged with posting allegedly derogatory comments. One pleaded guilty and was fined 10,000 ringgit ($3,000). The others are on trial.

A blogger, who had allegedly posted doctored images of Kelantan Mentri Besar, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. The image is reported to have Nik Abdul Aziz having anal intercourse with Anwar.

Kelantan PAS Security Committee, secretary Mohamad Ibrahim, lodged a report after discovering the pictures on the Internet.

According to another news report, the blogger is currently being held under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, which relates to improper use of network facilities or network service to comment, request or suggest in a communication which is obscene, false, offensive, or used to abuse, threaten or harass another person.

If convicted, the blogger faces a maximum one year jail term and/or a maximum fine of RM50,000.

Malaysia's Information Communication and Culture Ministry welcomes former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad views on the need to filter pornography on the Internet, said its minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim.

I greatly welcome Tun's (Mahathir's) views because we appear to be alone in voicing out against this negative influence. If more leaders voice out against pornography, the easier it will be for us to tackle this issue.

There are certain quarters who have doubts about legal provisions to tackle the menace. Actually, we have Section 265 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Comission Act to handle this, he told reporters.

The media recently reported Dr Mahathir as saying that he was becoming increasingly worried about the spread of pornography on the Internet and that he felt it should be filtered as it was supposedly contributing to the increase in sexual crimes in the country.

Rais said it was still too early to come up with a mechanism to block pornography on the Internet, but nevertheless, discussions in an objective manner would be carried to tackle the problem so that it was not misinterpreted as censoring the Internet.

He said if the source of pornography was from within the country, the authorities could act but at the moment could do very little to prevent its spread if the source was from overseas.

Malaysia has formed a task force to censor the Internet of blog postings deemed harmful to national unity.

Home ministry deputy secretary general for security Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi said the unit would involve the police, Internet regulators, the information ministry and the attorney general's chambers: It is a mechanism that will coordinate these various agencies to help monitor what is being said in cyberspace and to take action against those that are trying to stoke racial tensions and disunity.

Abdul Rahim said the group would also monitor alternative and mainstream media for similar content: There is a disturbing trend now appearing on the Internet where some people are inciting racial unrest and causing confusion and this will damage the peace we have in the country

Abdul Rahim cited the recent case of a Facebook page that insulted Muslim Malays. Police are also investigating ethnic Chinese rapper Wee Meng Chee for sedition, after he posted a three-minute rap on YouTube criticising a Malay headmistress accused of making racial slurs against minority students.

In another case, Malaysian journalist Irwan Abdul Rahman was charged this week over a satirical blog which made fun of the state power firm Tenaga, and faces a year's jail if convicted.

State media said that Irwan Abdul Rahman, a sub-editor with a Malay-language daily, pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to a charge of posting a fictitious comment.

It said he was accused of intent to hurt over the posting, entitled TNB to sue WWF over Earth Hour which jokingly said Tenaga would take action over the World Wildlife Fund's annual energy-saving initiative.

Update: Discharged

24th March 2011. See article from cpj.org

It took almost a year, but the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court has dismissed the charges against Irwan Abdul Rahman, noting that there were no grounds for prosecution.

As Rahman points out in his post on the case, having the case discharged does not amount to an acquittal. Almost one year for Rahman to get out from under the pressure of a court case. Is that just Malaysian justice slowly grinding forward? Possibly.

But it's also one year of intimidation for one blogger who dared to poke fun at a powerful government-run institution. Lingering in the back of every Malaysian journalist's mind, the case was and remains chilling.

Malaysia does not intend implement an internet filter similar to China's Green Dam project, the Deputy Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum told the Dewan Rakyat.

Salang said the government will leave it to the discretion of internet users to practice good usage, rather than use censorship to cull abuse of the internet.

He also clarified that a survey by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to study on China's internet filter operation was simply, a study.

The study on China does not mean that we want to impose internet censorship like them. We just wanted to see how effective their programme is, and what we can learn from it. But it does not mean we want to impose the same thing, said Salang.

But...

The deputy minister also urged bloggers to exercise caution in their blog entries, and to refrain from insulting the country as well as its rulers.

The alternative media is no longer alternative, in fact it has become the preferred media among the public now. Since the government does not intend to censor internet content, bloggers and internet users must exercise caution, said Salang.

The Malaysian government's latest proposal for internet censorship has come under fire from opposition politicians and industry watchers.

According to a report by local news agency Bernama, the Home Ministry was reviewing the definition of the word publication in the country's Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 to decide if it should now include Internet content, blogs and social networks such as Facebook.

Under the Act, all printing presses require a licence that must be renewed yearly and renewed based on the approval of the Home Ministry.

Malaysia's laws, detailing that the Internet cannot be censored, are provisioned under the Multimedia Super Corridor Bill of Guarantees as well as the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The government has largely kept its promise not to enforce Internet censorship so far.

The announcement, however, has received condemnation from the online community including social networks Twitter and Facebook, as well as politicians and industry watchdogs.

Lim Kit Siang, parliamentary leader of opposition Democratic Action Party, described the move as the government's latest attempt to quell online dissent and a clear violation of its promise not to enforce censorship on the Internet.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) also described the latest move as a backward attempt to block the spread of information to the public.

In a bid to quell the rising dissent, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in the local press that the proposed PPPA amendments have yet to be finalized and discussions are still in the early stage.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak promised Malaysians that his administration would never censor the Internet.

Twice in recent years, the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government has explored introducing Internet-filtering software, saying it was necessary to combat child pornography, before backing off after public outcry.

Speaking at the 1st Malaysian-ASEAN Regional Bloggers Conference, Mr Najib said that Malaysia has one of the liveliest and one of the freest, if not most free, blogospheres in the world.

While stressing that it is important for bloggers and Internet users to draw the line, Najib said his administration still welcomed constructive criticism and wanted to work with them as partners: There is a difference between disagreeing and being disagreeable. But what is important is for us to put forth our view to ... build a better Malaysia.

China has set up a new censorship body to control information on the internet.

The State Internet Information Office will take over responsibility from a number of lower-ranking directorates.

The new set-up is intended to enable the government to keep a more repressive grip on the content available to internet-users in China.

The newly-created State Internet Information Office brings technical and political control over the internet under one body, with Information Minister Wang Chen in charge. This in effect gives his ministry more power than the other agencies involved.

Police in China say they are seeking a man who allegedly threw an egg and shoes at the designer of the country's Great Firewall of internet censorship.

Fang Binxing was lecturing at Wuhan University, Hubei province, when the alleged protest took place.

Reports of the attack spread quickly on Twitter after a user named Hanunyi posted his account of the incident.

Hanunyi posted a live account of the alleged shoe-throw on his profile page, including a picture of a hand clutching an egg: The egg missed the target. The first shoe hit the target. The second shoe was blocked by a man and a woman.

Fang is reviled by many Chinese web users for overseeing development of China's system of internet censorship.

While the Malaysian government has continually ensured that there would be no censorship of the Internet in the country, an alleged leaked memo requesting Malaysian ISPs to block file-hosting sites suggests otherwise.

The memo in question appears to be issued by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on May 30, and was leaked on Facebook, Malaysia-based Lowyat.Net forum, and blogs on June 9.

The MCMC, which is the country's internet censor, has yet to deny or confirm the memo's authenticity.

In the memo, the MCMC requested that Malaysian ISPs block access to ten file-hosting and sharing URLs, including Megaupload, Fileserve, and The Pirate Bay. It cited Section 268 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which states that ISPs (licensees) must try their best to prevent its network from being used for activities that contravenes with Malaysian law.

See article from globalvoicesonline.org

International hacktivist group Anonymous has carried through on its threat to attack the Malaysian government's main website www.malaysia.gov.my over the government's proposed censoring of several file sharing websites, including the Pirate Bay and Megaupload.

A few days ago, the group posted a YouTube video about its intentions to carry out the attacks at 3.30am (local time) on Thursday.

At least 50 other government websites were attacked, including the state of Sabah's tourism website, and the Tourism Malaysia website. The websites of the Royal Malaysian Police, the Malaysian Parliament, the Ministry of Finance as well as the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism, which were restored before 9 am (local time).

Update: Protests

20th June 2011. See article from security.cbronline.com

Thousands of Malaysians took to the roads in protest of the decision made by the regulatory body Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to block 10 file-sharing websites in its effort to combat piracy.

The websites are mostly used to download pirated content including movies, TV shows and music.

The protest could be seen on Facebook as well, with over 6,500 people posting messages against the decision.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is monitoring various blog sites and news portals.

Information Communication and Culture Deputy Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum said, this followed an influx of websites and blogs in the Internet, making it difficult for the authorities to monitor each site.

He said the commission also monitored Internet sites based on public complaints:

We encourage the public to lodge complaints with the MCMC Complaints Bureau (aduan.skmm.gov.my), Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF-www.cmcf.my) and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum (CfM-www.cfm.org.my), should they know of any site or blog flouting our laws.

He claimed that this legal action could not be regarded as censorship as it was done to enforce the country's laws: The government will not censor any content on the internet unless it is against our laws. [or opposes the government's version of the truth].