ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship Attacks on On-Duty Journalists malaysia Malaysia’s international reputation.59 In August 2020, Disorders involving the Media in Malaysia the offices of Al Jazeera in Kuala Lumpur and that of 5 two local broadcasters were raided by the authorities and computers were seized.60 Following the incident, Malaysia’s communications minister announced that 4 all film producers must possess a licence to shoot and produce videos in the country, including those Nb of Events 3 who broadcast on social media.61 Al Jazeera staff also faced abuse online, including death threats and 2 publication of their personal information on social 1 media, in relation to the documentary.62 1 1 This episode is part of a larger pattern of harassment 0 0 of media outlets and individuals drawing attention 0 2021 to politically sensitive subjects, including corruption, 2023 and the state of human rights. Rewcastle Brown’s Year TOTAL 2 0 The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), Disorder Involving the Media, (10 February 2024), available at:https://acleddata.com/data-export-tool/ news website known for reporting on corruption in Malaysia, was reopened in 2021 over a book she wrote on the Malaysia Development (1MDB) scandal.64 The case was halted in 2018 after the police decided LEGEND Disorders involving the Media case, the founder and editor of the Sarawak Report–a Disorders involving Fatalities Fig. 4.4: Disorders involving the Media in Malaysia, 2020-2023. “no further action,” but an arrest warrant was issued against her for not attending court proceedings on Sept. 23, 2021. She was charged in absentia under Section 500 of the Penal Code,65 and on November 5, Malaysian authorities made a public appeal for information on her.66 The IFJ called Brown’s case The information used to construct this infographic is sourced from the ACLED database, specifically the dataset titled “Disorders involving Media.” Within this database, we have exclusively selected relevant countries from the ASEAN region, namely Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines. However, this infographic only focuses on Malaysia. The events were further filtered based on an additional criterion: date. As our report focuses on events from 2020 to 2023, only those occurring between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2023, have been included “another arbitrary attempt by the Malaysian authorities to quash critical reportage and crucial investigative journalism.”67 In 2023, Malaysian journalist Kean Wong, who lives in Australia, was briefly detained and is under investigation for sedition in Malaysia international broadcaster Al Jazeera and several of its journalists were investigated for sedition, violations of the CMA, and defamation. This came after Al Jazeera broadcasted a short film called “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown,” which uncovered the plight of thousands of undocumented migrant after publishing a book banned by the Malaysian government. The book, entitled “Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, And Hope in New Malaysia”, was banned on national security grounds. Wong was arrested while attempting to renew his passport in Malaysia but was released shortly afterwards.68 workers who were detained during raids in areas In the larger scheme of Malaysia’s control over under tight lockdowns. Malaysian officials criticised online speech, the government has strictly controlled the documentary as being inaccurate and unfair, information, invoking the “national security” claiming that it constituted an attempt to tarnish justification to shield itself from criticism.69 162 Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia