Everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas without fear or interference. The right to freedom of expression is important for the personal development and dignity of every individual, and it is essential for the fulfilment of other human rights. However, Malaysia retains multiple pieces of legislation that continue to repress and silence Freedom of Expression.
Ask Malaysia to repeal the following laws that restrict freedom of expression:
Sedition Act
The Sedition Act is the law most frequently used to silence dissent, the government remains committed to the Sedition Act, arguing that it protects national security, ensures public order and moral principles, and curbs defamatory acts. A person found guilty of sedition may be sentenced to three years in jail, a RM5,000 fine, or both.
Communications and Multimedia Act
The Communications and Multimedia Act (Section 233) – This law regulates communications and multimedia industries, but Section 233 criminalises online content that is “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character.” The excessively vague nature of the law has allowed it to be used against everyone from musician Namewee for a YouTube video to 1MDB whistleblower website Sarawak Report.
In 2024, this act was amended to expand the regulatory powers of authorities and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) without appropriate checks and balances – chillingly enabling greater state surveillance and jepradising free speech and expression online. The amendments also attached disproportionately punitive punishments to vague and problematic provisions in the act, including Section 233.
Printing Presses and Publications act (PPPA)
Amendments to Malaysia’s Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) are currently underway.
The PPPA gives absolute discretion to the Minister of Home Affairs to grant and revoke licences for all print media, giving the government tremendous power over newspapers and other printed media outlets. It is routinely used to stifle freedom of expression through censoring and banning publications in Malaysia. Consistent with international human rights standards, civil society organisations in Malaysia have long called for the repeal of the Act to protect freedom of expression, affirm practices of non-discrimination, and strengthen media freedom.
The proposed amendments do not address the problematic provisions in the act that uphold censorship and repression. They instead strengthen these very provisions by reaffirming the concentrated power in the Ministry of Home Affairs, expanding powers to seize publications, and reinstating licensing requirements that subject publications to increased government scrutiny, promoting self-censorship.
We must urgently call for the substantial reform or complete repeal of these acts that continue to stifle free expression, and reject the upcoming amendments to the PPPA pending meaningful consultations with civil society.
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Get unsilenced. Demand our right to freedom of expression be respected.
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