It has been going back and forth like a tennis ball. First Dr Lim Keng Yaik says "NO !" to blog censorship , then Zainuddin Maiden said we must censor the internet (http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news.php?id=211401).
Finally today the government dropped the bomb ... the Prime Minister issued a warning which goes like this :
" If information in blogs, websites and online portals were incorrect, bordered on slander, caused disturbance or compelled the public to lose faith in the nation’s economic policies, their authors would be detained for investigation, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi "
( http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/8/2/nation/15022918&sec=nation)
Yeay joy. Looks like Mahathir's 'Multimedia Super Corridor' Bill Of Guarentees which promises NO INTERNET CENSORSHIP can go to the same rubbish dump shared by Article 10.
First he decides to scrap the Article 11 Interfaith discussion which was aimed at discussing certains problems dealing with religious issues in Malaysia (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/7/28/nation/14980301&sec=nation), next he comes up with this. Man, I don't think he is doing a very good job at managing policies.
Most foreign investors pay close attention to things such as censorship policies and tolerance as they are central in determining a goverment's stability and support from the people, practicing internet censorship doesn't seem like a smart move. I just hope they don't jump off and run away from our country. The better move would be to head up a special website that counters these 'destructive' and 'slanderous' ( is that a word ? i don't know ) information .. that way the government would have it's own propaganda machine source of information.
If our Prime Minister had paid attention to international happenings he should have realised that this has been something that has been tried unsucessfully in many places. For example, take China. Not only has it's attempts to ban and control blogs failed , it has unfortunately gained notoriority for trying to censor the internet.
Until today , there are lots of "help our Chinese blogger friends by hosting their blog" movements which demonises China. I hope we don't see the same happening here.
One thing bothers me ...
" If information in blogs, websites and online portals were incorrect, bordered on slander, caused disturbance or compelled the public to lose faith in the nation’s economic policies, their authors would be detained for investigation, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi "
How do you 'border' on slander ? Does this mean even if you haven't written anything that slanders someone ( i know it's libel .. let's not get technical. Defamation would be better though since it covers both slander and libel in one word .. again I have gone off-track ... ) but if you almost did you are still going to find the police or (shudder) the ISA on your back ! Scary woi. (Looks out through window). Hmmm ... weird. I always thought that you either slander someone or you didn't , where did this talk of borders come from ? Magnus is the lawyer , I'll make it a point to ask him .. I anticipate a very interesting mamak session this weekend. I fear that this will be misused and eventually become as controversial as the ISA.
I have a suggestion. Instead of trying to shut up bloggers , which is extremely hard to do why don't the government shut up the No 1 instigator of riots, dissatisfaction and extreme behaviour in this country .. yes I am talking about politicians. With Hissamudin and his keris waving antic (one wonders if it is legal to walk around with a keris and carry it to where you 'work'. I know if I carry a sword to work I'll be pinned down with a fat greasy cop reading me my rights.) or Khairy Jamalludin the 'Riot Man' running around and telling everyone to boycott Starbucks and such .. we should first shut them up so that they don't go around spreading tension and stuff like that.
Instead of gagging the usual riff-raff they go and target bloggers .. aisehman .. catch the big fish first la. It's unfair to demonise bloggers as what they write are their opinion , if the government are serious about protecting the integrity of the nation go and catch those who actually cause these troubles. If Khairy Jamalludin the Prime Minister's son-in-law and his antics of listing companies that support Jews to be boycotted (http://rockybru.blogspot.com/2006/07/jews-behind-pantai-and-other-malaysian.html) doesn't scare away investors and 'compelled the public to lose faith in the nation’s economic policies', then there is nothing a blogger's posts can.
Disclaimer : This piece was written when I was under medication. It is just a product of delerium caused by the medicine. Don't put me in jail for it ok. If you have so much time to read this , go here http://blog.limkitsiang.com/?p=629#more-629 this is a bigger fish for you to catch .. leave me alone. |
At 9:51 AM,
Makes you wonder how flimsy our national economic policies are that some itty bitty blog posts could make investors lose faith. Investors are more likely to lose faith after listening to the drivel that comes from our politicians.
Plus 'bordering on slander' is not actionable. Basically he's saying they will detain your ass if you publish something they don't like