Malaysia Plans to Filter the Internet

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Will use system similar to China’s “Green Dam” software to block children’s access to “undesirable” websites.

Malaysia is the latest country to propose filtering the Internet in order to prevent kids from visiting “undesirable” websites.

For late last week it announced that it wanted to test out a system similar to that of China’s “Green Dam” software, the deployment there of which was of course “temporarily” delayed by authorities after public outcry.

The move by Malaysian authorities led to protests, though much larger, in that country as well by people who feel it’s part of a broader effort to silence govt critics ahead of the 2013 elections.

Information, Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim is adamant that the plan is a sincere effort to protect the kids and lambasts his critics for not wanting to do so.

“Those who call themselves liberals should look at what has happened to other countries who have become victims, where child sex occurs and pornography is widespread,” said Information Minister Rais Yatim. “Those who call themselves liberals should look at what has happened to other countries who have become victims, where child sex occurs and pornography is widespread.”

Yatim said the government is still studying the filtering process, and according to The Malaysian Insider it’s focusing on three main concerns:

• evaluate the readiness and feasibility of ISP-level filtering by assessing existing products and infrastructure.
• evaluate and estimate costs for implementation.
• study existing legal framework of content filtering and the impacts it may have on Internet users and the economy.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) “views with concern” any plans to filter the Internet and called it a “clear violation” of the commitment made in the promotion of the Multimedia Super Corridor. The MSC provides tax breaks for foreign tech firms and promises no Internet censorship.

It also cites the Bill of Guarantees, specifically Article 10 of the Federal Constitution that grantees freedom of speech.

CIJ says the real intent of the proposal is to shore up media control being that newspapers, largely owned by the country’s political parties including the most influential, the New Straits Times Press, which is owned by the main ruling party, are losing readership to online destinations. Print media is slowly becoming irrelevant and authorities are trying develop a strategy for countering opposition on the Internet.

“The real beneficiaries of control of information and expression over the Internet or any other forms of the media, is the ruling party in power,” says Gayathry Venkiteswaran, CIJ’s Executive Director, in a statement. “Reports by local and international human rights organizations point to the deliberate attempts by the Barisan Nasional government to target online spaces, which host a range of critical views on governance, transparency, accountability and maladministration. In this regard, any moves to institutionalize filtering will be seen as strengthening the executive’s powers in controlling content online.”

Some of the most troubling efforts to filter the Internet begin as benign proposals to “protect the children” it seems. Australia is the best example where it soon morphed into a govt blacklist of gambling, P2P, and even online gaming sites.

The Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture expects the study to be completed by this December and a final decision will be made by the National Security Council headed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Stay tuned.

jared@zeropaid.com

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