COMMENT | The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) welcomes the Court of Appeal’s landmark ruling in Heidy Quah v Government of Malaysia yesterday.

The appellate court declared the use of Section 233(1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) to criminalise online expression deemed “offensive” or made with the “intent to annoy” as unconstitutional.

The court affirmed that such vague and subjective provisions are inconsistent with Article 10(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, read together with Article 8(1) on equality, respectively, serving as a precedent for all future judgments.

It is critical to note that the court further extrapolated that