The following article is extracted from Reporters Without Borders.
…… in order to prevent the spread of “negative or malicious content,” bloggers will soon have to register with the government.
While claiming they do not intend to censor bloggers, they have warned that bloggers are not above the law when they “disturb peace and harmony” in Malaysia.
“This measure could jeopardise online free expression,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It could push many bloggers to opt for anonymity or censor themselves out of fear of reprisals. The deputy minister’s statement once again demonstrates the government’s desire to exercise improper control over the online flow of information inside Malaysia. The obligatory registering of blogs is a measure that so far has only been adopted by countries such as China that violate Internet users’ rights.”
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The government has expressed their worry over the freedom of public info distribution on the internet, citing that the irresponsible rumours on the net have caused unnecessary chaos aiming to shatter the social integrity / stability. Considering the major multimedia channels are controlled by the politicians, only the filtered info in favour to the concerned is published. Ordinary citizens were fed with decorated news and are discouraged to pursue the facts.
The progressive IT enables the information distributed efficiently and widely bypassing the conventional censorship board. I believe some accusations are not groundless. The bloggers are acting as watchdog to force greater transparency of the governmental operations. Sadly this term has been abused by our law enforcers (politicians) traditionally.
The recent governmental high level corruption issues are among the investigations triggered by the bloggers. The official response is ambiguous and intentionally noncommittal. How much do we expect our government would do to unearth the deep rooted issue, since the head of the Anti Corruption Agency is being accused of corrupted??!!
…… in order to prevent the spread of “negative or malicious content,” bloggers will soon have to register with the government.
While claiming they do not intend to censor bloggers, they have warned that bloggers are not above the law when they “disturb peace and harmony” in Malaysia.
“This measure could jeopardise online free expression,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It could push many bloggers to opt for anonymity or censor themselves out of fear of reprisals. The deputy minister’s statement once again demonstrates the government’s desire to exercise improper control over the online flow of information inside Malaysia. The obligatory registering of blogs is a measure that so far has only been adopted by countries such as China that violate Internet users’ rights.”
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The government has expressed their worry over the freedom of public info distribution on the internet, citing that the irresponsible rumours on the net have caused unnecessary chaos aiming to shatter the social integrity / stability. Considering the major multimedia channels are controlled by the politicians, only the filtered info in favour to the concerned is published. Ordinary citizens were fed with decorated news and are discouraged to pursue the facts.
The progressive IT enables the information distributed efficiently and widely bypassing the conventional censorship board. I believe some accusations are not groundless. The bloggers are acting as watchdog to force greater transparency of the governmental operations. Sadly this term has been abused by our law enforcers (politicians) traditionally.
The recent governmental high level corruption issues are among the investigations triggered by the bloggers. The official response is ambiguous and intentionally noncommittal. How much do we expect our government would do to unearth the deep rooted issue, since the head of the Anti Corruption Agency is being accused of corrupted??!!
