Do social media trigger social revolution?

Are Youtube, Facebook and Twitter new weapons of mass mobilization? Marwan Bishara of Al Jazeera leads the discussion with: Carl Bernstein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist; Amy Goodman, the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!; Professor Emily Bell, the director of digital journalism at Columbia University; Evgeny Morozov, the author of The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom; and Professor Clay Shirky, the author of Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age.

Why ‘computeritis’ is dangerous to Malaysians

Malaysians, especially the young ones, have been warned of the danger of ‘computeritis’ in the long run. 

For the uninitiated, ‘computeritis’ refers to the disturbing habit of relentless looking at the computer for a long period of time so that one’s reading habit gets jettisoned somehow. 

Expressing this concern of late is no less than our informed Information, Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim who called on young Malaysians to cultivate the habit of reading books. 

Apparently, this paternalistic advice came about within the larger context of people subjecting and glueing themselves to websites and blogs that are especially critical of the powers-that-be. This is because such virtual obsession may unfortunately take people away from other reading materials, such as the mainstream newspapers, that offer truth and nothing but the truth. 

But then, this promotion of reading habit, it seems, has its limits too. Well, at least in Malaysia. 

Not all books can be read. There are still some books that have been banned or censored by the Home Ministry, including the one regarding a former Prime Minister who ruled for a long, long while, and another one that funnily looks at 1Malaysia.

Mind you, these banned books, if exposed to those innocent Malaysians, can trigger off something nasty, like causing public disorder or a threat to national security.

In this sense, certain reading habit — virtually or otherwise — can be considered dangerous by the ruling elite.

A twit and the corrosive culture of the Internet

Malaysian government’s connection with the Internet is something of a love-hate relationship. This is especially so after the 2008 general election when the activities of Net users were said to have caused to a certain degree the ruling coalition to experience heavy electoral losses.

So the quibbling of Information and Communication Minister Rais Yatim over the purported dangers of Twitter, Facebook and blogging can only be read as reinforcing the said sentiment of the federal government.

But this time around, the minister concerned argued that the use of the Internet might run counter to the values supposedly promoted by revealed religions such as Islam, Christianity and Buddhism.

What he failed to state is that religions exhort their adherents to search for truth and justice wherever it may be, and this includes the Internet vis-a-vis the mainstream media whose credibility has tumbled.

And, apparently, if everything else failed in his urging, Rais warned Muslims and other religious groups to be “wary of the Internet as it was introduced by the West”.

If we were to follow through his argument to its logical conclusion, then we will have to stay away from the television set (through which programmes from RTM, TV3 etc are beamed) that was also first introduced by the West. On second thought, this (i.e. to shun television) may not be a bad idea after all.

Insider hacked

(Photo credit: forum.mamboserver.com/showthread.php?t=85966) 

The Malaysian Insider has been hacked.

When you click on the website, you get these words: ‘Tribute to MalangSial’.

Nightmare in Thai cyberspace

There seems to be a worrying trend emerging in our northern neighbouring country as far as Internet freedom is concerned. See here for more.

  

Thailand: Blogger’s Conviction Shocks Internet Freedom Activists

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Apr 8 (IPS) – Suwicha Thakhor’s nightmare in a Thai jail is set to continue after a court delivered a harsh verdict this week that contained a unequivocal message – the Internet in this country is being policed with the aim of limiting free expression.

On Apr. 3, the criminal court sentenced the 34-year-old father of three children to 10 years in jail for posting an image on the Internet that was deemed to have insulted the Thai royal family. Suwicha’s sentence – initially for the maximum of 20 years but reduced to half – has pushed this South-east Asian nation to join the ranks of countries where bloggers can be imprisoned for expressing their views, such as Thailand’s western neighbour, military-ruled Burma.

The verdict also saw the three judges who presided over this groundbreaking case take measures that went against the grain of an open trial, which is often the case in other criminal cases. Reporters present in the wooden panelled chamber were ordered not to take notes of the proceedings. The court also did not say how the defamatory photos were doctored.

The crimes Suwicha had committed included violating the 2007 computer crime law, which came into force when Thailand was under the grip of a junta that staged a coup in September 2006, the country’s 18th putsch. This law, criticised for being a crackdown on the freedoms of the country’s cyber community, threatens violators with maximum five-year jail term.

He was also tried for breaking the draconian lèse majesté law, which has been in the penal code for the past 100 years to prosecute anyone who expresses a view that tarnishes the image of the revered royal family. Violators face a maximum of 15 years in jail.

”This is the longest sentence in recent times for a lèse majesté-related offence,” says David Streckfuss, a U.S. academic who has written extensively on the Thai law aimed at insulating the monarchy from criticism.

”This is the first case of an Internet user convicted under the computer crime act related to national security or lèse majesté,” adds Supinya Klangnarong, a media rights campaigner who head the Thai Netizens Network, a group lobbying for the rights of Internet users. ”The sentence came as a shock. It means that this could happen to any Internet user in Thailand.”

”Panic, fear, frustration and anxiety will grow among the Thai Internet community,” she warned during an interview. ”It seems like the computer crime act has become a tool to go after people. We have not seen nor are aware of what he did in cyberspace.”

Suwicha’s lawyer concurs. ”This case sends out a message to the Internet community that they have to be very careful, because they can be easily targeted, easily prosecuted,” Teerapan Pankeeree told IPS outside the courtroom. ”Internet isn’t a free space, a liberal space anymore.” There are some 14 million Internet users in this country of close to 66 million people.

What lies ahead for Malaysian media?

There’ll be a forum, themed ‘Trends and Future of the Malaysian Mass Media’, on Oct. 30 at Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur that promises to enlighten Malaysians about the future of the country’s mainstream media in the face of what is considered as ‘challenges’ from the new media.

Curious and concerned Malaysians may find at this forum some answers to questions that have been residing in their heads. For instance, questions like: what kind of changes that the mainstream media have gone through ever since the emergence of the new media particularly during the Reformasi movement?; to what extent have the new media posed a challenge to the mainstream media?; how far is it true that the credibility of the mainstream media reached a low point that in turn precipitated the popularity of the new media among concerned Malaysians; do repressive laws such as the PPPA, OSA and ISA play a role in ‘domesticating’ and nurturing a culture of excessive self-censorship within the mainstream media?; and can a media council help promote professionalism and public standing of the mainstream media within the present political environment?

A Bernama report also mentioned a number of speakers for the forum, namely blogger ‘Rocky’, president of the National Union of Journalists Norila Daud, group chief editor of The Star Wong Chun Wai, head of Department of Media Studies of Universiti Malaya Prof Dr Azizah Hamzah, chief editor of Sin Chew English language portal Bob Teoh, Bernama editorial adviser Azman Ujang, secretary-general of the Asian Media Information & Communication Centre (AMIC) Assoc. Prof. Indrajit Banerjee, and advocate & solicitor Bhag Singh.

Given that the forum will discuss the challenges supposedly posed by the new media to the mainstream media, I wonder whether certain luminaries of the blogging community, such as Haris Ibrahim, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Jeff Ooi, Susan Loone, Anil Netto, Patrick Teoh, ‘Zorro’, and representatives of the late MGG Pillai (of the Sangkancil fame) and Raja Petra Kamaruddin, to name but a few, would be there too.

The forum is jointly organised by the South-South Information Gateway (SSIG), a unit under the Ministry of Information that was set up to foster greater flow of information among developing nations, and Universiti Malaya.

SSIG stated that the forum was to mark World Development Information Day (WDID) instituted by the United Nations in 1972.

Malaysia Today and tomorrow

The recent blocking of the controversial Malaysia Today website by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) is not only unprecedented, but also obviously has serious repercussions on Internet use and freedom of expression in Malaysia.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor claimed that ‘The Government did not instruct the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) to block access to the Malaysia Today website.’

He added that ‘the Government had only given a “general instruction” to the commission to allow all blogs and websites to function provided they adhered to provisions under the Communications and Multimedia Act.’

It would take a bit more effort on the part of the minister to convince sceptical Malaysians of the SKMM’s independence of the government. Besides, given the powers provided by the Act, the said minister could have instead advised the Commission against blocking access to Malaysia Today as it contravenes the no-censorship provision of the Act.

A look at the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 reveals, in Section 3 (3) of Part I (Preliminary) of the Act, that ‘Nothing in this Act shall be construed as permitting the censorship of the Internet’.

Whatever the case may be, the fact is free access to a website has been denied to Malaysian citizens and other interested parties.

And even if it’s true, as alleged by Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, that Malaysia Today had been ‘libelous, defamatory and slanderous’, blocking the website is akin to killing an ant with a sledgehammer. There is, to be sure, the defamation law that can handle such problems.

Even former PM Mahathir Mohamad, who’s so inclined towards curbing press freedom and freedom of expression during his premiership, is hopping mad over this ban as it violates the no-Internet censorship policy.

Without blinking an eye, the doctor slammed the government’s action as demonstrating ‘a degree of oppressive arrogance worthy of a totalitarian state’.

The fact that this blocking was exercised after the recent Permatang Pauh by-election also lends suspicion that the government intends to make Malaysia Today a warning to other websites and blogs, especially those critical of the government.

Put another way, this episode indicates that an avenue, i.e. the Internet, that provides an alternative to the controlled mainstream media is increasingly facing threats from the government.

This is certainly not a nice way to usher in the 51st anniversary of our ‘independence’ tomorrow, and beyond.