There needs to be an easier appeal process for websites that have been blocked to appeal against the order, according to the lawyer Foong Cheng Leong.

 

He said that at the moment, there are only two possible avenues of redress if the owners of a website feel that it is being wrongly blocked.

 

One is to seek a court order, which would be tedious; another is to undergo a dispute resolution process under Section 82 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA). However the law is unclear on the process.

 

“Someone should have the power to block (websites), one sole authority. You can have ten authorities to determine (which websites to block). But of course there should be a very good appeal process.

 

“For example if your website is blocked, you must have the appeal process to a third party to decide that the blocking is no good.

 

So far I don’t think we have any guidelines or regulations to guide us on how to solve a blocking order,” Foong ( photo ) told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

 

The Kuala Lumpur Bar Information Technology and Publication Committee chairperson said this when asked if the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) powers are too broad, when it came to ordering internet service providers to block access to certain websites.

 

Under Section 263(2) of the CMA, the MCMC or any other authority may order for access to websites to be blocked to prevent “the commission or attempted commission” of an offence under any Malaysian law.

 

“If you attempt to do something (deemed illegal) that is basically good enough for them to block you already,” Foong said.

 

Block on Sarawak Report

The law was invoked yesterday by MCMC to block access to the whistleblower site Sarawak Report .

 

In a statement last night, the MCMC said the website was temporarily blocked because it threatens national stability and has content of uncertain veracity and is under investigation.

 

It added that the blocking was also done under Section 211 and Section 233 of the CMA, which deals with offensive content, and improper use of network facilities and services, respectively.

 

Foong said that to his knowledge, the only other instance where the MCMC has ordered a website of such nature to be blocked was the political blog Malaysia Today in 2008. The website was run by the blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin ( photo ).

 

Most of the websites blocked in Malaysia are pornographic websites and those that sell drugs, he said.

 

The block on Raja Petra’s blog has since been lifted following an order from the cabinet.

 

Foong added he is also not aware if anyone has challenged the MCMC on a block before.

 

Elaborating on the dispute resolution under Section 82 of the CMA, Foong said the wording of the law says, “A dispute between two or more persons (“the parties”) regarding any matter under this Act or its subsidiary legislation shall first be attempted to be resolved by negotiation between the parties.”

 

He said it is unclear whether this means that Sarawak Report should negotiate with MCMC or someone else, or it can go straight to court, if it chooses to challenge the block.

 

Asked about the Multimedia Super-Corridor Bill of Guarantees that includes a government guarantee of no online censorship, Foong said freedom is not absolute.

 

He opined that there should always be an element of ‘blocking’ when it comes to freedom of information, but it should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

 

Examples of this include pornography, especially in its extreme forms such as child pornography, he said, but he added that he could not comment on Sarawak Report ’s case because he is unfamiliar with the website.

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