For some, Malaysia’s position on Internet censorship appears unclear, despite a law against such meddling.
“As to the evil which results from censorship, it is impossible to measure it, for it is impossible to tell where it ends.” — Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832).
In early August this year, the Malaysian public was alerted to the Government’s plan to introduce an Internet pornography filter similar to the “Green Dam” filter software in China.
Sources indicated that such news came from the Minister of Information, Communication and Culture, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim. However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak swiftly responded by assuring the public that the Government would not impose censorship of the Internet, which presumably does not include any such filter.
Such a plan, if there ever was one in the first place, would have been nothing new in the international arena. It would have just been the latest in a long line of controversial governmental initiatives in other countries which have sought to control and suppress publications and information on the Internet and, in every case, is met with stiff opposition and a public outcry.
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