POLICE are monitoring blog sites and will investigate bloggers for seditious and misleading postings.
If investigations confirm that such postings are seditious and misleading, the police can haul the bloggers concerned to court under the Sedition Act and Communications and Multimedia Act, Nanyang Siang Pau reported yesterday.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said police have set up a cyber crimes unit under the Commercial Crime Investigation Department and will investigate reports lodged against bloggers by members of the public or members of the force itself.
However, he said police will only haul up the bloggers after it is determined that their postings are questionable.
Musa stressed that the move is not aimed at stifl ing free speech but to ensure that bloggers undertake responsible postings.
Giving an example, he said police received a report not so long ago that an article posted on a blog was seditious as its content was deemed blasphemous to Islam.
Those who have read the article, including the police, felt that it may have been written by a non-Muslim.
“But police investigations showed that the person involved was a Muslim. What if everyone believes it was written by a non-Muslim, what (do you think) can happen?” he asked. Anyone found guilty under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 can be jailed up to a year and fi ned a maximum of RM50,000 or both whereas a person who violates the Sedition Act 1948 can be jailed up to three years or fi ned RM5,000 or both. Nathaniel Tan, a blogger and an aide of Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, told the daily he has always been against police department’s use of threats on bloggers. Tan was detained an investigated for alleged breach of Section 8 of the Official Secrets Act 1972 relating to a comment left on his blog linking then deputy internal security minister Mohd Johari Baharum to a corruption allegation.
Commenting on police monitoring of blog posts, he said: “It indeed is a threat to bloggers.” He however said they would not be intimidated.
Taken from TheSun
If investigations confirm that such postings are seditious and misleading, the police can haul the bloggers concerned to court under the Sedition Act and Communications and Multimedia Act, Nanyang Siang Pau reported yesterday.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said police have set up a cyber crimes unit under the Commercial Crime Investigation Department and will investigate reports lodged against bloggers by members of the public or members of the force itself.
However, he said police will only haul up the bloggers after it is determined that their postings are questionable.
Musa stressed that the move is not aimed at stifl ing free speech but to ensure that bloggers undertake responsible postings.
Giving an example, he said police received a report not so long ago that an article posted on a blog was seditious as its content was deemed blasphemous to Islam.
Those who have read the article, including the police, felt that it may have been written by a non-Muslim.
“But police investigations showed that the person involved was a Muslim. What if everyone believes it was written by a non-Muslim, what (do you think) can happen?” he asked. Anyone found guilty under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 can be jailed up to a year and fi ned a maximum of RM50,000 or both whereas a person who violates the Sedition Act 1948 can be jailed up to three years or fi ned RM5,000 or both. Nathaniel Tan, a blogger and an aide of Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, told the daily he has always been against police department’s use of threats on bloggers. Tan was detained an investigated for alleged breach of Section 8 of the Official Secrets Act 1972 relating to a comment left on his blog linking then deputy internal security minister Mohd Johari Baharum to a corruption allegation.
Commenting on police monitoring of blog posts, he said: “It indeed is a threat to bloggers.” He however said they would not be intimidated.
Taken from TheSun
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Cool? I can see some blogs are serious about bashing government for some reasons. The different is either you are famous or you are not. If you are famous, its hard to put you in jail as you have your own lawyer to defend you. If you are not, then it's easy to throw you in jail under cyber law and sedition.
Wow, that's interesting.
ReplyDeleteyeah, the more political malaysian bloggers have been getting a super tough time! yes, and it IS cutting off any little bit of free speech that we have online.
ReplyDeleteI know the government is upset, but arent they going about it the wrong way? they should fix themselves first instead of fixing up (or killing off) other people first.
About muslim people writing of non islamic things, or things harmful to the religion.. why does the government feel so threatened all the time? i get it, it is to defend Islam but does it really help them poking their noses into blogs? they could instead create a better awareness of the beauty of the religion as compared to *ahem* hauling up every muslim couple holding hands and hugging in parks.
Hi.. thanks for the post. I just want to know if the act is applicable to all bloggers worldwide or is it only applicable to a certain country?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Sigh... so much of drama.
ReplyDeletewow...so many latest information here..thanks for sharing it..hmmm just so u know,we are no longer free to write anythings that we want...hussshhhh...
ReplyDeletemy pleasure...silakan para polis sekalian utk "eyeing" on us.tanya skit....cukup ker mata nk peratikan kiter sumer neh..heheh
ReplyDeleteif there's anything that is unjustice been done by the government.....I'll keep on "bashing"....base on any evidence found...without feeling any guilt!
hmm... good.. but where's the freedom in speech in this country??? Tot we're are democratic country...LOL
ReplyDeletetammy - Yes, very interesting indeed. Malaysian blogger has no more freedom :)
ReplyDeleteraising mercury - Yes by threaten blogger won't bring any good at all. It will create tense among bloggers and thing will just get worse. I believe there are some peoples in government who are smart enough to suggest a way instead of threatening blogger like this. But I did not see one or hear one, YET. Hope soon... sigh.
finay - The cyber crime act are different for each country -- for the rule and also cash amount.
rozella - Yes, the worst drama is about petrol. They highlighted about Singaporean and Siamese who tried to get petrol from Malaysia because their country has double price than us. They tried to highlight about that to make us blind about the petrol price. So we should be grateful that our price won't be up so much like neighbours?
axim - Yes, freedom of speech seem extinct especially in Malaysia. Crap with the feudal system. It's 2008 and we're stuck at the same old system.
cybernetic mind - They should get mad with opposition first before cursing us. Where did we get the informations? Even if they know, can they do anything to the opposition? So, there is something fishy :)
love-n-hate - We Malaysian, democracy? Vanish long time ago...