Malaysia: A study on the criminalisation of free expression online Chew Chuan Yang Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) www.suaram.net Introduction Malaysia has a long history of curtailment of the right to freedom of expression. Prior to the inception of Malaysia as a nation-state, the Sedition Act 1948 was introduced by the British to curtail alleged subversive messages by individuals and groups who opposed British colonial rule. The repression of freedom of expression in that era was not only through the Sedition Act 1948, but also through security laws that were applied broadly against individuals who were not in agreement with Britain’s proposition on the Federation of Malaya. Despite achieving independence in 1957, the pre-existing laws that curtailed freedom of expression were not repealed but gradually strengthened over the years. Similarly, abuse of security laws in restricting freedom of expression remains prevalent throughout the country’s history. Closer to the 21st century, Malaysia was rocked by the political divide created by former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim1 at the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1998. When Anwar Ibrahim broke ranks with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister of the day, demonstrations and protests calling for the resignation of the prime minister followed. The debacle ended with the imprisonment of Anwar Ibrahim for alleged corruption charges and a politically motivated sodomy charge. It was also in those turbulent years that Malaysia was first introduced to the internet and enjoyed the first taste of free flow of information and independent news. Moving forward to 2017, statistics in the past few years show rapid internet adoption throughout the country. With constantly improving accessibility due to low entry costs and widespread availability of service providers, Malaysia is now estimated to have roughly 24.1 million internet users – representing close to 70% of the nation’s population. While there is limited access to the internet in selected parts of Malaysia, access and adoption rates have been relatively even and equal throughout the country.2 Unfortunately, the expansion of a civil space due to the prevalence of the internet was not without challenges. The spread of political opposition and popular mass movements through the internet was noted by the government. With this recognition came a response by the government and the ruling political party, which embarked on social media campaigns through trolls and “cybertroopers”, punitive legal measures to legally restrict and silence dissent, and disproportionate use of force to intimidate those involved and others that voice dissent. The purpose of this report is to map the laws that affect online freedom of expression in Malaysia. In addition to the Sedition Act 1948, the Communications and Media Act 1998 (CMA) and the Malaysian Penal Code incorporate sections that have been used to criminalise online expression activities. In addition to the laws themselves, the report seeks to study legal judgments and draft legislation insofar as they relate to online freedom of expression. As the internet is a fast-evolving medium – and the law is always lagging to catch up – we also study recent incidents as an indication of governmental interpretation and use of laws to curtail and violate freedom of expression online. We will begin by elaborating on the methodology for research, followed by a detailed look at the laws that are most often utilised to criminalise freedom of expression. 2 1 Deputy prime minister of Malaysia from 1993 to 1998. Department of Communications and Multimedia. (2016). Internet Users Survey 2016: Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. www.mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/IUS2016.pdf MALAYSIA / 83