New Law for Mamak only
Putrajaya denies new laws for online media
But the government also claimed its pledge not to censor the Internet as enshrined in the 10-point Bill of Guarantees (BoGs) of the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor could be ignored in matters involving national security.
This means that the government will still monitor Internet content and punish users who publish online material deemed by the authorities as a possible threat to national security. This includes information posted in online news portals, blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Also, although hazy in details, plans are still in the pipeline to introduce amendments to the highly criticised Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) which will see its scope widened to include online media content.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz explained in a press conference today that in any matter affecting national security, the country’s laws like the Sedition Act, PPPA and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Act would take precedence over the BoGs.
“When it comes to a point where the security of the country is affected, then yes, we can [ignore the pledge]. There is no compromise when it comes to national security ... everything else will then be secondary, even when it comes to the bill of guarantees.
“When you look at the blogs and in Facebook, you will see that not many people know what they can or cannot do. They do not know that they cannot abuse these laws,” he said.
When asked for the government’s formula in enforcing the three laws on Internet users who post offensive material online from abroad, Nazri said, “We will do it within our means.”
He added that media freedom should not be interpreted to mean absolute freedom, including the “freedom to lie” or the “freedom to commit slander”.
“Recently when people talk about freedom of the press and freedom of expression, it means they have the freedom to lie, to commit slander and to do anything, and even if it affects national security, it is okay.
“This is a new phenomenon and this is why we need to tell the public that national security is paramount and they cannot abuse it,” he said.
Nazri was speaking after chairing a meeting of the Special Committee to Strengthen the Government’s Communications Strategy formed by the Cabinet last year.
The committee involves three ministries – the Prime Minister’s Department, Home Ministry and the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim were also present with Nazri in the press conference.
Nazri also denied previous reports claiming of plans to expand the country’s sedition laws to cover cyberspace, clarifying instead that the government had merely prepared special guidelines to help the public better understand the existing three laws.
The guidelines, he explained, were not amendments or additions to the existing laws but contained information to educate the public on the “dos and don’ts” already underlined in the legislation.
“It is nothing new. It is just that we want to make it easier for people to understand. At the moment, perhaps some people do not understand these acts so these guidelines are to make it easier for them to do so.
“It is for them to know what they can and cannot do, when we can and cannot take action and why it takes us some time to take action.
“Because sometimes there may be conflict as to where and when we want to take action but then the people say that under the bill of guarantees, we promised freedom ... but if the country’s security is affected, we can set aside what has been promised under this bill and take action,” he said.
The Padang Rengas MP, however, said the government gave its assurance that it would not mete out punishments arbitrarily as it was aware that the public was keeping a close watch on its every move.
“I can assure you ... we are not going to be people who just take any action. We know at the end of the day, the public will be there to judge us.
“But like I said, this is not something new. We have had this committee for a year now and we had four meetings last year. These laws have been around for years but we are addressing them now because many do not understand them,” he said.
Nazri said the guidelines would be presented to the next Cabinet meeting for approval before being disseminated to the public in a nationwide roadshow that will kick off soon.
The roadshow, he said, would be in the form of public meetings between officials from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Home Ministry, Royal Malaysian Police and the MCMC and journalists, bloggers and the interested public. It is estimated to end by February.
When questioned later on whether the committee had discussed the impending amendments to the PPPA, Hishammuddin said, “No.”
Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam created an overnight furore when he said yesterday that the PPPA will be amended to expand its scope and include “publications” posted online and plug loopholes.
He said among other things, the Home Ministry was looking at the definition of “publication” and whether it should include Internet content, blogs or Facebook to expand the Act due to the changing landscape of the digital era.
Mahmood said the ministry was working with the Attorney-General’s Chambers to study the proposed amendments.
“We hope the amendments will be tabled in Parliament by March this year because we need to overcome weaknesses, especially those involving multimedia content,” state news agency Bernama quoted him as saying.
“We have to expand the act so that it does not only cover print media because the landscape is totally different now, especially with the intrusion of digital technology,” he said.
Mahmood said the ministry monitored Internet content on a daily basis including what is shown through online video site, YouTube.
Nazri also said that according to reports from the MCMC to date, a total of 217 complaints have been made on a variety of alleged offences involving online content.
Of the total, said Nazri, 175 were struck out with no further action taken, 23 cases were issued compounds, 13 were charged in court and six require further investigation.
On cases handled by the police’s commercial crime division’s special unit for the monitoring of online content, a total of 38 investigation papers have been opened to date.
Of the total, said Nazri, 29 were presently under investigation, five were charged in court and four were struck out with no further action taken.
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