CIJ sees BN online clampdown
By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — Barisan Nasional (BN) will redouble its efforts to control online content this year in a bid to preserve the Malay vote base, a media watchdog has said.
Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) said the internet has received “special attention” from the ruling coalition as the Internet is believed to have been instrumental in BN’s poor showing in Election 2008.
“As Malaysians become more dependent on the Internet for obtaining and disseminating information, the BN government has stepped up efforts to make its presence felt online, sending a message that online participants cannot act freely,” CIJ said in its “Freedom of Expression in Malaysia 2010” report released here last night.
It described the increased use of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) last year to silence critics online, citing investigations against news portals and bloggers for making allegedly “offensive comments”.
The report also highlighted the new guidelines planned by the Home Ministry to explain the reach of the Sedition Act 1948 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) online.
BN, however, will likely play a “balancing act” until the next general election as it wishes to manage critics online without appearing heavy-handed to an increasingly vocal public, the report added.
CIJ added that the loosening of government control over the media and freedom of expression was “unlikely” before the next general election.
CIJ executive officer Masjaliza Hamzah said this increased clamping down on online political discourse signalled the return of confidence to BN following the “shock and awe” of Election 2008, where BN lost its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament.
“It was a lull almost, and now [they’re] back,” she told The Malaysian Insider.
