by Lim Kit Siang
Time & Date: January 18, 2007 @ 14: 06.24
The defamation proceedings launched by the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) against two bloggers, Jeff Ooi of Screenshots fame and Ahirudin Atan who runs Rocky's Bru is a grave development in the defence of the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists in Malaysia to break the stifling monopoly of the mainstream media.
No responsible blogger will claim absolute freedom of speech and expression on the blogosphere, including the liberty to defame with impunity the character of others, and Jeff Ooi’s blog displays very prominently not only the warning that “Internet does not operate in a vacuum”, but another warning:
There must be space on the blogosphere however for free and fair comment, which is anathema in the mainstream media where important national issues and prominent personalities are concerned.
The NSTP defamation suits will have a chilling effect on freedom of bloggers and citizen journalists as litigation is so expensive that its costs will cripple and paralyse the ordinary individual blogger, making no contribution whatsoever to a healthy process to delineate and define the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists.
As these are the first two cases of Malaysian bloggers being sued for defamation, it will have far-reaching consequences for the healthy, mature and democratic growth for free speech and expression, not only on the Internet but in the country as a whole.
Without going into the merits or demerits of the defamation proceedings launched by NSTP, which will be sub judice, bloggers and all concerned about human rights should rally behind the two bloggers to ensure firstly, that there is a level playing field in the defamation proceedings particularly in terms of financial resources and capabilities, and secondly, that the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists are properly developed and entrenched in keeping with the imperatives of an information society and knowledge economy which Malaysia aspires to become.
Time & Date: January 18, 2007 @ 14: 06.24
The defamation proceedings launched by the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) against two bloggers, Jeff Ooi of Screenshots fame and Ahirudin Atan who runs Rocky's Bru is a grave development in the defence of the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists in Malaysia to break the stifling monopoly of the mainstream media.
No responsible blogger will claim absolute freedom of speech and expression on the blogosphere, including the liberty to defame with impunity the character of others, and Jeff Ooi’s blog displays very prominently not only the warning that “Internet does not operate in a vacuum”, but another warning:
“Any comments posted on this blog that are obscene, blasphemous, racial or overtly threatening, including the use of partial words or phrases where the intent is clearly offensive, will be removed immediately by the host. Such comment could also render the person posting them liable to legal action or prosecution.”
There must be space on the blogosphere however for free and fair comment, which is anathema in the mainstream media where important national issues and prominent personalities are concerned.
The NSTP defamation suits will have a chilling effect on freedom of bloggers and citizen journalists as litigation is so expensive that its costs will cripple and paralyse the ordinary individual blogger, making no contribution whatsoever to a healthy process to delineate and define the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists.
As these are the first two cases of Malaysian bloggers being sued for defamation, it will have far-reaching consequences for the healthy, mature and democratic growth for free speech and expression, not only on the Internet but in the country as a whole.
Without going into the merits or demerits of the defamation proceedings launched by NSTP, which will be sub judice, bloggers and all concerned about human rights should rally behind the two bloggers to ensure firstly, that there is a level playing field in the defamation proceedings particularly in terms of financial resources and capabilities, and secondly, that the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists are properly developed and entrenched in keeping with the imperatives of an information society and knowledge economy which Malaysia aspires to become.
Bloggers United. No Fear.
8 comments:
wishful thinking...this is malaysia. malaysia boleh ma...
interesting to see outcome of the suit!
mr.manager,
among the use of blogging is 'mempromosikan filem2 yg bagus banget' spt"
'BERBAGI SUAMI'
a must see film 2007!
u ajak laa ning, nikki & yanni tgk selagi tayangan masih ada!
wish them all the best..insya-Allah..Tuhan akan tunjukan siapa yang benar.
p/s:hi vern..i enjoyed most of my time reading ur blog and i found it so interesting.may i tag ur blog in my blog as well?
not-a-ning's-fan-but-ning-is-simply-gorgues!
Cheers!
eh jap..nak share sikit wif u..i have one friend yang mmg suka tiru suara ning..even to karoke room,then one day..she nyanyi her heart out and kebetulan bawah lampu kat klcc..u know what? that lampu pecah because that time she tried the highest pitch of ning's saprano..boleh tak? dah pecah lampu..cam kelam-kabut we all lari..so true man..
politic is dirty thing for 'dirty' people...
Klubbkidd - you work for NSTP, so you better shut up.
Anne - the outcome will depend, as Lim Kit Siang suggests, on how level the playing field is. Rocky and Jeff will need all the support they can get, and money is what I mean. Going to court can cost hundreds of thousands.
Bicaraskrip - will let Ning and the girls know.
Farah - you have my permission to tag my blog. Lampu pecah? I guess it's dangerous to sing like Ning!
Zunaidi - politics is not dirty. But some people are.
Read carefully you find Jeff Ooi also went too far to simply write bad about people. If you read the sms story where Jeff purposely link sms with scam is amazingly defamation right the way. Say Gmail equals to spam or Post Malaysia equals to rubbish letters is too much a bad mouth. People who don't like him do the samething distributing antijeffooi.com also Jeff want to speculate the people behind. What has Jeff turn into? I don't see any dignity left to call himself blogger, I also don't see why bloggers want to associate with him. Good bye.
blogger for personal comment or opinion is OK lah. blogger for personal attack or blog like a newspaper is NOT OK. How many children or people without internet knowledge got carried away believing in his story? It's like cult leader telling people End of the World is coming and everybody should have have sex (with the cult leader) now before too late. Doh! I read jeff ooi blog is like always defame people without actual fact. Many famous people including AirAsia CEO and bank CEO all falls into his story. Interesting he also create his own evidence and change the real story until you believe what he said is true. Little bit out of hand, government should support blogging but not defamation. Defamation should go to jail and learn proper respect and social responsibility.
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