Freedom of expression is a right given to all and though it included in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, there are still some repressive laws that restrict that.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) implemented on the 10th of December 1948, states in Article 19 that‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’ (Amnesty International Malaysia 2006).
Mainstream media itself is mostly owned by the government so there is no room for any critical opinions that would not be in the favour of the ruling coalition. Then, Internet changed it all. The power of political blogs and online news portals away from the reach of the government was realized by the public. But the more the government loses its grip over underestimating online media, the more they try to repress it such as the case of the 'controversial' Malaysia Today online news portal being blocked. However, the MSC Bill of Guarantees promised no Internet censorship, creating a loophole in this (Nurbaiti & Cheok 2008).
The Internet has proven to be a free and big place for freedom of expression. Despite political parties in power trying to restrict access to different opinions, there is no possibility they can repress all. One blog closed does not mean another one cannot be opened (Cheah, Lim & Sim 2008). Similarly, like the Malaysia Today case, though its ISP address was blocked, people were still able to access it.
References:
Amnesty International Malaysia 2006, ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, Amnesty International Malaysia, viewed 5 November 2008, http://www.aimalaysia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=23.
Cheah, R, Lee, YP, Sim, LL 2008, ‘Malaysia Today Controversy gets hotter (Update 4), The Star Online 28 August, viewed 9 November 2008, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/28/nation/20080828134908&sec=nation.
Nurbaiti, H & Cheok, LP 2008, ‘ISPs ordered to cut access to Malaysia Today website, The Star Online 28 August, viewed 9 November 2008, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/28/nation/22187596&sec=nation.
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