B. Key Digital Rights Situations in 2025 A significant development in digital rights in Malaysia in 2025 was the Court of Appeal’s August 2025 ruling clarifying the terms “offensive” and “annoy” in Section 233 of the 1998 Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA). The court held that it is no longer a crime in Malaysia to make “offensive” online comments with the intention to “annoy.”183 Section 233 previously made it an offense for a person to make, create, solicit, or initiate the transmission of any online comment that was “obscene, indecent, false, menacing, or offensive” with the intent “to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass another person.”184 According to the judge, “A premium should be given to truth, and the fact that some truths may be unpalatable does not justify criminalizing the messenger merely because some masses of the people do not like the message.” The judge also stated that there is no uniform societal standard for what is “offensive,” and that what one person finds offensive may not be offensive to another in a diverse society185. However, in December 2024, the government passed an amendment to Section 233 of the CMA, replacing the word “offensive” with “grossly offensive.” The revision took effect in February 2025. The ruling therefore applies only to the previous version of the law and covers only ongoing cases that involve that earlier wording186. The ruling stemmed from a 2021 case against Heidi Quah, founder of Refuge for the Refugees. She was charged with posting “offensive” comments on Facebook that highlighted the alleged mistreatment of refugees in immigration detention centers187. She subsequently challenged whether the words “offensive” and “annoy” in the provision were inconsistent with the fundamental human rights enshrined in the Constitution under Articles 8 and 10188. Anbalagan, V. “Unconstitutional to Criminalise Offensive Speech Made Online, Rules Court.” Free Malaysia Today, 19 Aug. 2025, www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/08/19/ unconstitutional-to-criminalise-offensive-speech-made-online-rules-court. 184. “Govt Heads to Federal Court to Appeal Ruling on Offensive Online Speech Provision.” Free Malaysia Today, 12 Sep. 2025, www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/09/12/govt-heads-to-federalcourt-to-appeal-ruling-on-offensive-online-speech-provision. 185. Lim, Ida. “Don’t Shoot the Messenger: Court of Appeal Says Offensive Online Remarks to ‘Annoy’ Can’t Be a Crime in Malaysia.” Malay Mail, 19 Aug. 2025, www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2025/08/19/ dont-shoot-the-messenger-court-of-appeal-says-offensive-online-remarks-to-annoy-cant-be-a-crimein-malaysia/188168. 186. Kamarulzaman, Zikri. “Court Strikes Down ‘Annoyance’ Offence From Communications Law.” Malaysiakini, 19 Aug. 2025, www.malaysiakini.com/news/752739. 187. “Refuge for the Refugees Founder Heidy Quah Charged in KL With Internet Misuse.” Malay Mail, 27 July 2021, www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/07/27/refuge-for-the-refugees-founder-heidyquah-charged-in-kl-with-improper-use/1992992. 188. Anbalagan, V. “Appeals Court Reserves Ruling on Activists’ Challenge to Online Speech Law.” Free Malaysia Today, 11 June 2025, www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/06/11/appealscourt-reserves-ruling-on-activists-challenge-to-online-speech-law. 183. 46