Futile to crack down on blogs

Published in Today newspaper (Singapore) on August 1, 2007

When former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad unveiled his vision of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996, one of the biggest surprises was a guarantee of no censorship of the Internet.

.

This was not because he had suddenly become a liberal advocate of unbridled free speech. He has since said he had no choice if he wanted to attract multinational corporations to set up base in the MSC.

.

For a long time, this did not pose much of a problem. Malaysiakini, a political news website launched in late 1999, was a constant thorn in the side of the government, but its reach was limited.

.

The emergence of Web 2.0 — a category of websites known for interactivity, collaboration and community — has made the authorities take notice, with user-generated content and social networking sites now the rage among young people.

.

Earlier this year, prominent bloggers Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan (aka Rocky), were sued by editors of the pro-government New Straits Times for defamation. At the time, it seemed an isolated case.

.

However, two incidents last month and a flurry of warnings by the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) party have made everyone realise the government is determined to reign in political bloggers.

.

Nathaniel Tan, an aide to former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act and a police report was made against Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who runs the popular Malaysia Today website.

.

In the past week, warnings were issued by the de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz, Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

.

The latest barb was from Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, who painted political bloggers as a danger to the nation. "They support foreign elements bent on destroying our beloved country," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

.

All the warnings revolve around the same theme — that bloggers are not above the law and that what is libellous or seditious in print is equally so online. This is nothing new. And no one is seriously suggesting the MSC's guarantee of non-censorship of the Internet be revoked.

.

What is different is the willingness of the government, and those who support it, to use the full extent of the law to crack down on prominent bloggers in order to send a chilling message to others not to test the government's patience.

.

This is bound to fail. Firstly, clamping down on political bloggers will only embolden them, as can be seen from the defiant reactions of the likes of Ooi, Rocky and Raja Petra.

.

Secondly, there are legal loopholes that bloggers can exploit. Raja Petra highlighted this in one of his postings, in which he claimed he told the police that his website's domain name is registered in the United Kingdom, his Web server sits in Singapore and his blog engine resides in the United States.

.

"For all intents and purposes, Malaysia Today is a foreign website, not a Malaysian one," he wrote. "Your Sedition Act is valid only in Malaysia and not outside Malaysia. So, you cannot impose Malaysia's Sedition Act on Malaysia Today, which resides outside Malaysia."

.

Perhaps the authorities might be able to claim that because the owner of the website resides in Malaysia, he could be held liable. What then about Malaysian bloggers who reside overseas?

.

Thirdly, there are technical loopholes. You do not have to own a website or a blog to post political comments. Many young Malaysians are members of social networking sites such as Facebook, which allow them to post and share comments. Will the authorities go after Facebook next?

.

Malaysia does not broadcast parliamentary debates — though the opposition has been petitioning for this for years. Now, they just post video clips on YouTube, where the antics of some Members of Parliament are on display for the world to see.

.

Blogs, social networking sites and video streaming services now have a marginal impact — mainly on Web-savvy, English-speaking urbanites. But this is starting to change.

.

Broadband will soon be more widespread. The government has issued four WiMAX licences and starting next year, wireless broadband should be more widely available. With 3G phone prices dropping, even rural folk will have handsets that access the Internet and play videos streamed online.

.

When that happens, online and mobile media will become as ubiquitous as today's mainstream media. What can the government do about this? As the old saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.

.

Instead of clamping down on online social activists and commentators, the government could focus its energies on developing online channels of communication that resonate with the online generation.

.

This naturally begs the question: Would the online community want to read, hear or watch what the government has to say? Why not, if what it has to offer is as direct, responsive and pertinent as what the current crop of alternative media operatives are offering?

.

One thing's for sure, the government cannot continue to operate as before, controlling the flow of information to the populace through the mainstream media. The alternative media is already becoming the mainstream.

.

Oon Yeoh is a commentator and writer based in Kuala Lumpur.

Oon Yeoh

 

When former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad unveiled his vision of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996, one of the biggest surprises was a guarantee of no censorship of the Internet.

.

This was not because he had suddenly become a liberal advocate of unbridled free speech. He has since said he had no choice if he wanted to attract multinational corporations to set up base in the MSC.

.

For a long time, this did not pose much of a problem. Malaysiakini, a political news website launched in late 1999, was a constant thorn in the side of the government, but its reach was limited.

.

The emergence of Web 2.0 — a category of websites known for interactivity — collaboration and community, has made the authorities take notice, with user-generated content and social networking sites now the rage among young people.

.

Earlier this year, prominent bloggers Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan (aka Rocky), were sued by editors of the pro-government New Straits Times for defamation. At the time, it seemed an isolated case.

.

However, two incidents last month and a flurry of warnings by the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) party have made everyone realise the government is determined to reign in political bloggers.

.

Nathaniel Tan, an aide to former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act and a police report was made against Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who runs the popular Malaysia Today website.

.

In the past week, warnings were issued by the de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz, Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

.

The latest barb was from Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, who painted political bloggers as a danger to the nation. "They support foreign elements bent on destroying our beloved country," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

.

All the warnings revolve around the same theme — that bloggers are not above the law and that what is libellous or seditious in print is equally so online. This is nothing new. And no one is seriously suggesting the MSC's guarantee of non-censorship of the Internet be revoked.

.

What is different is the willingness of the government, and those who support it, to use the full extent of the law to crack down on prominent bloggers in order to send a chilling message to others not to test the government's patience.

.

This is bound to fail. Firstly, clamping down on political bloggers will only embolden them, as can be seen from the defiant reactions of the likes of Ooi, Rocky and Raja Petra.

.

Secondly, there are legal loopholes that bloggers can exploit. Raja Petra highlighted this in one of his postings, in which he claimed he told the police that his website's domain name is registered in the United Kingdom, his Web server sits in Singapore and his blog engine resides in the United States.

.

"For all intents and purposes, Malaysia Today is a foreign website, not a Malaysian one," he wrote. "Your Sedition Act is valid only in Malaysia and not outside Malaysia. So, you cannot impose Malaysia's Sedition Act on Malaysia Today, which resides outside Malaysia."

.

Perhaps the authorities might be able to claim that because the owner of the website resides in Malaysia, he could be held liable. What then about Malaysian bloggers who reside overseas?

.

Thirdly, there are technical loopholes. You do not have to own a website or a blog to post political comments. Many young Malaysians are members of social networking sites such as Facebook, which allow them to post and share comments. Will the authorities go after Facebook next?

.

Malaysia does not broadcast parliamentary debates — though the opposition has been petitioning for this for years. Now, they just post video clips on YouTube, where the antics of some Members of Parliament are on display for the world to see.

.

Blogs, social networking sites and video streaming services now have a marginal impact — mainly on Web-savvy, English-speaking urbanites. But this is starting to change.

.

Broadband will soon be more widespread. The government has issued four WiMAX licences and starting next year, wireless broadband should be more widely available. With 3G phone prices dropping, even rural folk will have handsets that access the Internet and play videos streamed online.

.

When that happens, online and mobile media will become as ubiquitous as today's mainstream media. What can the government do about this? As the old saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.

.

Instead of clamping down on online social activists and commentators, the government could focus its energies on developing online channels of communication that resonate with the online generation.

.

This naturally begs the question: Would the online community want to read, hear or watch what the government has to say? Why not, if what it has to offer is as direct, responsive and pertinent as what the current crop of alternative media operatives are offering?

.

One thing's for sure, the government cannot continue to operate as before, controlling the flow of information to the populace through the mainstream media. The alternative media is already becoming the mainstream.

.

Oon Yeoh is a commentator and writer based in Kuala Lumpur.

Oon Yeoh

 

When former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad unveiled his vision of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996, one of the biggest surprises was a guarantee of no censorship of the Internet.

.

This was not because he had suddenly become a liberal advocate of unbridled free speech. He has since said he had no choice if he wanted to attract multinational corporations to set up base in the MSC.

.

For a long time, this did not pose much of a problem. Malaysiakini, a political news website launched in late 1999, was a constant thorn in the side of the government, but its reach was limited.

.

The emergence of Web 2.0 — a category of websites known for interactivity — collaboration and community, has made the authorities take notice, with user-generated content and social networking sites now the rage among young people.

.

Earlier this year, prominent bloggers Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan (aka Rocky), were sued by editors of the pro-government New Straits Times for defamation. At the time, it seemed an isolated case.

.

However, two incidents last month and a flurry of warnings by the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) party have made everyone realise the government is determined to reign in political bloggers.

.

Nathaniel Tan, an aide to former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act and a police report was made against Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who runs the popular Malaysia Today website.

.

In the past week, warnings were issued by the de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz, Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

.

The latest barb was from Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, who painted political bloggers as a danger to the nation. "They support foreign elements bent on destroying our beloved country," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

.

All the warnings revolve around the same theme — that bloggers are not above the law and that what is libellous or seditious in print is equally so online. This is nothing new. And no one is seriously suggesting the MSC's guarantee of non-censorship of the Internet be revoked.

.

What is different is the willingness of the government, and those who support it, to use the full extent of the law to crack down on prominent bloggers in order to send a chilling message to others not to test the government's patience.

.

This is bound to fail. Firstly, clamping down on political bloggers will only embolden them, as can be seen from the defiant reactions of the likes of Ooi, Rocky and Raja Petra.

.

Secondly, there are legal loopholes that bloggers can exploit. Raja Petra highlighted this in one of his postings, in which he claimed he told the police that his website's domain name is registered in the United Kingdom, his Web server sits in Singapore and his blog engine resides in the United States.

.

"For all intents and purposes, Malaysia Today is a foreign website, not a Malaysian one," he wrote. "Your Sedition Act is valid only in Malaysia and not outside Malaysia. So, you cannot impose Malaysia's Sedition Act on Malaysia Today, which resides outside Malaysia."

.

Perhaps the authorities might be able to claim that because the owner of the website resides in Malaysia, he could be held liable. What then about Malaysian bloggers who reside overseas?

.

Thirdly, there are technical loopholes. You do not have to own a website or a blog to post political comments. Many young Malaysians are members of social networking sites such as Facebook, which allow them to post and share comments. Will the authorities go after Facebook next?

.

Malaysia does not broadcast parliamentary debates — though the opposition has been petitioning for this for years. Now, they just post video clips on YouTube, where the antics of some Members of Parliament are on display for the world to see.

.

Blogs, social networking sites and video streaming services now have a marginal impact — mainly on Web-savvy, English-speaking urbanites. But this is starting to change.

.

Broadband will soon be more widespread. The government has issued four WiMAX licences and starting next year, wireless broadband should be more widely available. With 3G phone prices dropping, even rural folk will have handsets that access the Internet and play videos streamed online.

.

When that happens, online and mobile media will become as ubiquitous as today's mainstream media. What can the government do about this? As the old saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.

.

Instead of clamping down on online social activists and commentators, the government could focus its energies on developing online channels of communication that resonate with the online generation.

.

This naturally begs the question: Would the online community want to read, hear or watch what the government has to say? Why not, if what it has to offer is as direct, responsive and pertinent as what the current crop of alternative media operatives are offering?

.

One thing's for sure, the government cannot continue to operate as before, controlling the flow of information to the populace through the mainstream media. The alternative media is already becoming the mainstream.

.

Oon Yeoh is a commentator and writer based in Kuala Lumpur.

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