Media freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF) foresees stronger controls on the Internet as Malaysia heads into the 13th general election.

In its annual report ‘Internet Enemies’, it said the government is unlikely to ease pressure, particularly on the blogosphere, which is increasingly seen as a “more credible source than the traditional media” in Malaysia.

RSF said the Internet in Malaysia provides an “unequalled discussion and debate platform” and is an “effective remedy against self-censorship” which has pervaded traditional media due to the licensing requirement under the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

“ azlan Malaysian bloggers are still under strong pressure, and their positions are finding substantial support among citizens who are no longer content with the official versions of ‘the facts’,” said the report released on World Against Censorship Day on March 12.

“In view of the approaching elections, the arm-wrestling between bloggers and the authorities is likely to get tougher.”

Malaysia maintained its 2009 position as a country “under surveillance” for cyber-censorship, alongside newly-listed France, Australia, Libya and 12 others. Another 10 other countries, including Syria, Vietnam and Iran, are listed as ‘Internet enemies’.

Baiting dissenters

But if the Internet was once the platform for dissenting views, RSF reported that a speculated “several hundred bloggers (have been created) to inject positive pro-regime content online”.

It also warned that the pro-regime bloggers also act as bait to “entice opposition bloggers to commit violations or give out false news”.

“Their aim is supposedly to neutralise netizens critical of the government,” it said, adding that the proposed cyber-sedition guideline is a warning of bleaker days ahead.

azlan RSF observed that laws like the Sedition Act, the Internal Security Act and portions of the Communication and Multimedia Act are used for the this purpose.

Examples of this, it reported, include the prosecution of blogger Hassan Skodeng for his satire on Earth Hour and fellow blogger Khairul Nizam Abdul Ghani for allegedly insulting the late Sultan of Johor.  

Hassan, a Malay Mail sub-editor whose real name is Irwan Abdul Raman, yesterday had the charges against him dropped after the defence team pointed out that parody and satire are protected under the same Act.

Charges against these bloggers, the suspension of the publishing permit of several opposition mouthpieces, and the persecution of political cartoonist Zunar, RSF added, “seem to confirm the theory that the authorities have taken over the country’s political communications”.

Nevertheless, it said, the government had in 2009 “repeatedly” assured RSF that it would uphold its pledge not to censor the Internet, as guaranteed in 1996 at the launch of the Multimedia Super Corridor.