huridocs-tech Censorship in Malaysia

Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
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## author     : bala@malaysia.net
## date       : 11.03.00
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Malaysiakini Editorial

Much ado with Net censorship Steven Gan

March 9: Last Saturday, Energy Communications and Multimedia
Minister Leo Moggie was quoted in The Sun that PAS tabloid
Harakah would be punished if its Internet edition was
uploaded more than twice a month, as required in its print
edition.

Same day, same newspaper, same page: Deputy Home Minister
Chor Chee Heung denied making an earlier statement in which
he said exactly what Leo Moggie had said. There would be no
censorship of the Net, he insisted. Not surprisingly, he
blamed the media for the blunder.

Confused? Wait, there's more.

Same day, different place, another minister: Leo Moggie's
deputy Tan Chai Ho was accosted by reporters at the lobby of
the Parliament and asked about the government's policy on
Harakah's Internet edition and malaysiakini.com.

If Harakah's Internet edition was the same as the print
edition, he said, then the Home Minstry's condition of
restricting it to publishing "twice a month" applies. The
government, however, has no control over the contents in
malaysiakini.com.

Such bewildering signals from the ministers have put the
issue of Internet censorship back on the spotlight, even as
the government vowed time and again that it has no intention
to police the cyberspace.

And this, only days after Umno launched its news website,
e-umno, touted as "the first Internet newspaper".

Clearly, there is a credibility gap in the government's
promise to leave the Internet alone. Even as Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad stressed yesterday that the country must
developed a first-rate Internet media system.

Indeed, the problem with the government's pledge not to
censor the Net is its appalling track record in muzzling
dissident newspapers and magazines. Independent Malay
magazine Detik has already been suspended. Harakah is the
latest casualty.

To follow are Tamadun and Esklusif, whose printing permits
are due to expire next month. Their fate doesn't look too
promising judging by the punishment meted out to Detik and
Harakah.

Tamadun had already received a warning letter from the Home
Ministry, while Esklusif was verbally warned four times last
year.

In its inaugural issue last week, e-umno - the recently
launched website in the ruling party's belated foray into
cyberspace - lamented the perils of PAS wooing the
non-Malays.

In a comment piece penned by an anonymous writer in its "Isu
semasa" (current issue) section, the author berated PAS
leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat for trying to be the darling of the
non-Muslims by "saying that the word 'kafir' should not be
used to describe them".

This, it said, was irresponsible and a reflection of the
insensitivity of the Kelantan Mentri Besar "towards the
majority Muslim population in Malaysia".

"God has made a clear distinction between those who accept
and believe in the teachings and principles of Islam and
those who reject them," it added.

No doubt the technology is new, but the message is not.
However, when Space Age technology is used to deliver a
Medieval missive, clearly some things just don't quite gel.
No wonder, the ministers are confused.




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