Great tool… only if we don’t let fools use it
Following the king’s call for action, what about enforcement against a certain character on the lam who has misconceived, deceived and injured so many from the other side of the world, where he has bunkered, apparently protected and encouraged to further spread his poison?
By Azmi Anshar (NST)
OF all the counsel provided by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong yesterday as he opened the first meeting of the third session of 12th Parliament, this perhaps resonates the loudest — slander, lies and distortion of facts are still percolating in the new media. The king was, of course, reiterating the feral aspect of this dominion. As much as the technical deployment of email, websites, blogs and the social media Facebooking and Tweeting on either PCs or cellphones has surged in numbers, the human traits of malice and gullibility remain the same.
Malice as in falsifying, doctoring, conjuring and spinning facts, statements, documents, images and even video, which are lapped up by gullible millions.
It can’t be helped that what the king counselled against is like fighting against the tide: a handful of spurious sites may be stopped by either official sanctions or peer pressure but a million? And with more sites popping up to replace them?
Following the king’s call for action, what about enforcement against a certain character on the lam who has misconceived, deceived and injured so many from the other side of the world, where he has bunkered, apparently protected and encouraged to further spread his poison?
It is also in the nature of the Internet that information drifts and tides in the same alignment as human endeavours, but faster in acceleration — meaning that malice and gullibility is nourished and replenished far too easily, drowning care, restraint, hindsight and wisdom.
Of course, the opposite of the beastly electronic assaults are the mavericks and individuals who do not fit into the political correctness demanded by the mainstream but whose voices are decidedly anti-malice, their concern only for courteous but tough criticisms.
There are many Malaysians out there playing, toying and indulging in the Internet maze that fit into this scheme of things. They write and criticise against concerns that don’t make sense and interfere with the greater good.
They also expose greed and show Malaysians how to accept intellectual nourishment that the Internet can greatly provide.
Which the king alluded to when he posited that freedom of speech features strongly in a democratic and mature society. But the king also contended that freedom of speech is not an excuse to demean others to the extent of inflaming conflict and inciting racial sentiment.
That’s the rub, isn’t it? The distinction between free and scurrilous speech, and not the absolute free speech that naughty netizens profess. Malaysia has a set of laws that draws the line between the free and scurrilous but for the enlightened, it is the laws’ judicious application that will be scrutinised meticulously.
When there is enforcement against the malicious and gullible, we hope good sense will prevail and let the sensible ones survive.
