The BN government is using scare tactics to ensure news portals do not report the truth.
The Barisan Nasional’s (BN) desperate move to control online media groups and further curtail freedom of information in the country is nothing short of being bodoh sombong or foolish arrogance.
To scramble and narrow the scope of existing laws to ensure online media is disabled from revealing the truth to the people reflects BN’s arrogance in acting as big bully in dictating terms to bloggers and news portals.
It is a folly for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to tighten his grip on online portals and bloggers under the misguided belief that it was solely their doing that drowned BN in the 12th general election.
BN last month schemed a plan – to amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 using national security as the excuse to halt the transparency practised by the online media and bloggers.
Here, the words of former American senator William Proxmire, “Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous” must be kept in mind by the BN in its frenzy to gain absolute control of the country.
To avoid history repeating itself, BN is dead certain that if it can control the content produced by bloggers and news portals victory is definite come the next general election. But this notion is only as good as it gets, because BN is in denial of why the rakyat rejected it.
It was not the portals and bloggers’ doing that BN lost. It was the fault of BN coalition that caused it the humiliating defeat. The karma behind the loss was to create an awareness in Umno, MCA and MIC that their existence is not to fulfil personal interests but to serve and look into the welfare of the rakyat. Yet, the BN coalition stubbornly refuses to improve.
The move to regulate the contents of online media is a desperate act by the BN. It is now up to the people to determine who best deserves their votes, the money-politics dependent BN or the opposition, still a fledging in the political arena.
BN’s Machiavellian ways
Truly, desperate times call for desperate measures and this the people are witnessing through the various ways and means BN is applying to snatch back all the votes it had lost to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat alliance in the previous general election.
The BN’s desperation has prompted it to do whatever it takes to reassure itself that victory will be theirs in the coming 13th general election.
Perhaps that is why after all the brickbats the government received to its proposal to amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, Najib swiftly dropped the idea, instead deciding to regulate the Sedition Act 1948, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Act 1998 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
To safe face amidst jeers from the public and the younger generation of politicians on the move to amend the PPP Act 1984, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz came on board with a far from convincing justification:
“The move is not to stifle freedom of expression in the country but that the government was stern on issues that could threaten national security.”
“People have been talking about freedom of expression, freedom of the press. They think freedom of expression is everything, including the freedom to lie, to slander, to do anything, even to the extent of jeopardising the country’s security. Security of the nation is paramount. No compromise on that,” was Nazri’s way of saving grace.
With such Machiavellian ways being churned out by BN to seize control from Pakatan, the move to amend or regulate existing laws is BN’s way of exerting its control for good over the online media and putting an end to freedom of information for good.
Every move is being made to stifle the existence of bloggers and news portals to prevent them from sharing the truth with the people.
Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim has confirmed that the proposed guidelines will be tabled at the Cabinet meeting soon. He said the guidelines were prepared by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and were endorsed by the Cabinet’s Special Committee to Strengthen the Government’s Communications Strategy, chaired by Nazri.
Trying hard to reassure Malaysians, Rais said the guidelines should not be seen as a clamp-down on Internet censorship. Beating around the bush, Rais finally owned up that the guidelines were to end all liberties taken by the online media in spreading information.
“What is important is that bloggers or those who use alternative media should remember that laws remain in force no matter where they are. They are unscathed as law enforcers did not go after them. But from now onwards if complaints are made, actions will be taken against them,” Rais had warned.
No gag for cronies
However, BN’s tactic to scare bloggers and Internet media into not reporting the truth and being transparent is a flop, simply because of the double standards practised by Umno.
For instance, the Umno-controlled Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia has the liberty of writing as much nonsense as it wants to defame Pakatan, BN’s arch rival. There is no limit imposed on the extent of damage Utusan can do through its editorials.
Likewise, the Malay-rights group Perkasa under founder Ibrahim Ali has been vomiting racist remarks from the day it was formed post-the 2008 general election.
Ibrahim has never been reprimanded by the government for threatening the non-Malays should the latter question the privileges enjoyed by the Malays as laid out under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.
Will Najib’s administration be fair and censure mainstream media like Utusan Malaysia and newsletters produced by Perkasa which are on a “mission” to do all the damage they can to the very fabric that has held Malaysia in place, that is, unity among people of different races?
If the BN cronies are going to enjoy the freedom of writing discriminating articles to hoodwink the people, the government’s move to regulate the various Acts is certainly an approach to bully the Internet media into bowing down to its demands.
At the end of it all, the decision rests with the rakyat – will they squander their votes under the influence of lies created by BN or will they make an informed choice, one that will ensure the country is administered rightfully and truthfully?
The Barisan Nasional’s (BN) desperate move to control online media groups and further curtail freedom of information in the country is nothing short of being bodoh sombong or foolish arrogance.To scramble and narrow the scope of existing laws to ensure online media is disabled from revealing the truth to the people reflects BN’s arrogance in acting as big bully in dictating terms to bloggers and news portals.
It is a folly for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to tighten his grip on online portals and bloggers under the misguided belief that it was solely their doing that drowned BN in the 12th general election.
BN last month schemed a plan – to amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 using national security as the excuse to halt the transparency practised by the online media and bloggers.
Here, the words of former American senator William Proxmire, “Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous” must be kept in mind by the BN in its frenzy to gain absolute control of the country.
To avoid history repeating itself, BN is dead certain that if it can control the content produced by bloggers and news portals victory is definite come the next general election. But this notion is only as good as it gets, because BN is in denial of why the rakyat rejected it.
It was not the portals and bloggers’ doing that BN lost. It was the fault of BN coalition that caused it the humiliating defeat. The karma behind the loss was to create an awareness in Umno, MCA and MIC that their existence is not to fulfil personal interests but to serve and look into the welfare of the rakyat. Yet, the BN coalition stubbornly refuses to improve.
The move to regulate the contents of online media is a desperate act by the BN. It is now up to the people to determine who best deserves their votes, the money-politics dependent BN or the opposition, still a fledging in the political arena.
BN’s Machiavellian ways
Truly, desperate times call for desperate measures and this the people are witnessing through the various ways and means BN is applying to snatch back all the votes it had lost to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat alliance in the previous general election.
The BN’s desperation has prompted it to do whatever it takes to reassure itself that victory will be theirs in the coming 13th general election.
Perhaps that is why after all the brickbats the government received to its proposal to amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, Najib swiftly dropped the idea, instead deciding to regulate the Sedition Act 1948, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Act 1998 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
To safe face amidst jeers from the public and the younger generation of politicians on the move to amend the PPP Act 1984, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz came on board with a far from convincing justification:
“The move is not to stifle freedom of expression in the country but that the government was stern on issues that could threaten national security.”
“People have been talking about freedom of expression, freedom of the press. They think freedom of expression is everything, including the freedom to lie, to slander, to do anything, even to the extent of jeopardising the country’s security. Security of the nation is paramount. No compromise on that,” was Nazri’s way of saving grace.
With such Machiavellian ways being churned out by BN to seize control from Pakatan, the move to amend or regulate existing laws is BN’s way of exerting its control for good over the online media and putting an end to freedom of information for good.
Every move is being made to stifle the existence of bloggers and news portals to prevent them from sharing the truth with the people.
Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim has confirmed that the proposed guidelines will be tabled at the Cabinet meeting soon. He said the guidelines were prepared by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and were endorsed by the Cabinet’s Special Committee to Strengthen the Government’s Communications Strategy, chaired by Nazri.
Trying hard to reassure Malaysians, Rais said the guidelines should not be seen as a clamp-down on Internet censorship. Beating around the bush, Rais finally owned up that the guidelines were to end all liberties taken by the online media in spreading information.
“What is important is that bloggers or those who use alternative media should remember that laws remain in force no matter where they are. They are unscathed as law enforcers did not go after them. But from now onwards if complaints are made, actions will be taken against them,” Rais had warned.
No gag for cronies
However, BN’s tactic to scare bloggers and Internet media into not reporting the truth and being transparent is a flop, simply because of the double standards practised by Umno.
For instance, the Umno-controlled Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia has the liberty of writing as much nonsense as it wants to defame Pakatan, BN’s arch rival. There is no limit imposed on the extent of damage Utusan can do through its editorials.
Likewise, the Malay-rights group Perkasa under founder Ibrahim Ali has been vomiting racist remarks from the day it was formed post-the 2008 general election.
Ibrahim has never been reprimanded by the government for threatening the non-Malays should the latter question the privileges enjoyed by the Malays as laid out under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.
Will Najib’s administration be fair and censure mainstream media like Utusan Malaysia and newsletters produced by Perkasa which are on a “mission” to do all the damage they can to the very fabric that has held Malaysia in place, that is, unity among people of different races?
If the BN cronies are going to enjoy the freedom of writing discriminating articles to hoodwink the people, the government’s move to regulate the various Acts is certainly an approach to bully the Internet media into bowing down to its demands.
At the end of it all, the decision rests with the rakyat – will they squander their votes under the influence of lies created by BN or will they make an informed choice, one that will ensure the country is administered rightfully and truthfully?
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