Malaysia cracks down on bloggers
I sometimes forget that there are goverments around the world who do not like the notion of free press. I was reminded of this last week with the news that Malaysia are going to be using anti-terrorism laws against bloggers who insult Islam or the king. You can read the full article about this event on the BBC website here.
Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of the blog Malaysia Today, had to turn himself into police last week because of criticism he has posted on his blog.
I travelled for a few weeks in Malaysia 3 years ago and had a fantastic time, it’s a beautiful country. I also made some good friends from Malaysia during my time in New Zealand so was immediately concerned about this happening there. Malaysia have a very good representation in the blogging world so I’m sure this will affect a lot of good blogs. That’s why I thought I should bring this to everyones attention (incase you missed it!).
You can read the original story here. If you would like to read some more about this event please visit some of the links below 
- Malaysian Bloggers Under Fire From Nation’s Ruling Party
- The Guide To Not Going To Jail For Blogging
- Raja Petra, Malaysia Today, Bloggers, Sedition & Tipping Points
- Malaysia Warns Blogging “Monkeys” Not To Insult Islam
- The War between Bloggers and Government Peaks
- The Blogosphere spilleth over…into politics
- The world is watching - The Malaysian Blogging Farce
- Reporters Without Border slams Malaysia over threat to bloggers
If there are any Malaysian bloggers reading this I encourage you to give us your side of the story, particularly if you have been directly affected because of it (ie. due to the content of your blog).
chrisblogging.com | July 30th, 2007 at 1:13 pm #
Nice link to a good story! Talk about taking blogging for granted…
Wallace | July 30th, 2007 at 7:12 pm #
we are lucky…
pablopabla | July 30th, 2007 at 9:31 pm #
I am a Malaysian and a blogger.
Yes, the government (and components of the ruling party) has issued open warnings to “bloggers” to toe the line and not make false accusations against the government, Agong and religion of Islam failing which certain laws will be used against them. These laws mentioned grants the Executive branch powers to detain someone without trial for a period of time (some up to 60 days).
It is likely that these warnings go out to socio-political bloggers who have been exposing or rather, providing information on the failings of the government which I presume, the government takes it as a threat to their voting popularity (by the way, general elections are around the corner). The government has not faced such kind of “exposes” as in recent months as blogging is not a phenomenon or mode of transmission of information during the run-ups to the previous general elections.
It is true that Raja Petra was summoned to have his statement taken on a potential charge of sedition (for mocking the Agong and religion of Islam) but he had his answers. Most bloggers who blogged about this current episode have expressed their outrage as well as embarassment over the exercise by the authorities. You should read Raja Petra’s account and you will know what I mean by embarassment.
It is plainly obvious that the threat to imprison bloggers without trial under certain laws of Malaysia is politically motivated and nothing more. So much for a country which touts itself as having what was once the tallest buildings in the world, as Chairman of the OIC , prides itself with being multi-racial, multi-religion and harmonious and having a Multimedia Super Corridor which is supposed to rival the best there is in the world.
the anti-jihadist | July 31st, 2007 at 8:09 am #
I suspect my anti Islamic articles posted at Raja Petra’s website in the past 6 weeks have something to do with this crackdown.
You can read my articles and judge their ‘anti Islamic’ sentiment for yourself. Just google ‘Malaysia Today’ and ‘Anti Jihadist’ to see them all (total of ten pieces).
In particular, read the three columns of mine that were deleted from Malaysia Today shortly before Raja Petra’s police interrogation.
Those pieces, still available at Pedestrian Infidel are entitled, as follows:
1. Why Muslims are doomed to fail
Link: http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2007/07/why-muslims-are-doomed-to-fail.html
2. Is reforming Islam mission impossible?
Link:http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2007/07/is-reforming-islam-mission-impossible.html
3. The Malay dilemma, revisited
Link:http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2007/07/malay-dilemma-revisited.html
Enjoy the articles. Down with Islamic fascism!
Linken Lim | July 31st, 2007 at 9:29 am #
Thanks for the link.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had hosted a very incendiary and seditious article inciting racial hatred, ill-will and animosity among the Malays and Chinese in the country.
Who must be held responsible for the seditious article on the official website of the Prime Minister?
The government has issued open warnings to
Monkeys“bloggers” to toe the line and not make false accusations against the government,Agong (The King) and religion of Islam, and to avoid touching on racial issues.Is Abdullah strictly liable for seditious postings on the Prime Minister’s Office website to the extent that he could be charged and tried for sedition?
You can read the news here
Kevin | July 31st, 2007 at 10:07 am #
pablopabla - Raja Petra’s account is a very interesting read. He’s certainly someone who isn’t going to be bullied by all this.
the anti-jihadist - interesting articles, did Raja take those articles offline or was it the goverment.
Linken Lim - Your welcome. I think that the goverment has shot itself in the foot with this whole thing. I had a friend at Auckland Uni (who was Malaysian) and she mentioned that there were lots of students from Malaysia there ie. Malaysia ia country where the young are very educated so I don’t think that this will simply go away.
the anti-jihadist | July 31st, 2007 at 10:12 am #
I do not have confirmation, but I am reasonably sure the blog owner of Malaysia Today, Raja Petra (RPK) deleted said articles and not the government. I requested confirmation and additional info from RPK on this, but no answer has been forthcoming.
At the very least, no matter what else happens, the Malaysian government has scared RPK into pre-emptive self-censorship.
StockTube | August 1st, 2007 at 10:16 am #
thanx for the link superman kevin,
it’s not too much on how the king (there’s no king as justified by raja petra, mind you) or islam being insulted … it’s more of how the ruling government trying to cover their worms from spilled over the street by masking under the charge of “insulting king and islam” …
if you care to ask anyone (educated) about how corrupt are the government, most of them will tell you it’s a “culture” within the country …
raja petra is no ordinary man, he has the royal blood circulating in his body and thus the govn need to create a more concreate and complete story to nail him … but being detained twice under the ISA (detention without trial) twice before has made him wiser that he can smell the police coming miles away …
he would be left alone had he not spill the corrupt practice within the highest officials within the govn - the same links within my post …
anyway, it’ll be an uphill task for the govn to arrest every single bloggers out there, considering the ministers are not well-versed with email, only know how to spell it …
long live bloggers
cheers
stocktube
My Lil Venture | August 24th, 2007 at 12:23 pm #
Hi Kevin, I am a Malaysian too. I try to stay away as much as possible from writing political stuff and anything that would seem “sensitive” to my country.