TITLE OF THE ESSAY: In Malaysia, absolute freedom of expression must be

guaranteed in social media.

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: CYAN B02B

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CHIN YI XUAN

1131122525

B02B

PHANG SI MIN

1142700360

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FARAH SOFEA BINTI NOR ZAIN

1122701494

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SEETHA THANGAVELLOO

1131122906

B02B

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Labeling argument

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Soundness of conclusion

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Soundness of premise 1

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Soundness of Supporting
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0.5 X 4 supporting
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ASSIGNMENT 1

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Topic: In Malaysia, absolute freedom of expression must be guaranteed in social media.

Freedom of speech is broadly understood as everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and
to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers. (Article 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948) In other words, if
people do express themself, they do not need to fear government authorities arresting them
and tossing them in jail for it.The Internet especially social media has often played a key role
by enabling people to connect and exchange information instantly and so, it has become a
vital communications tool through which individuals can exercise their right of freedom of
expression. Therefore, people should know how to control their speech to avoid dispute
especially in public which the most example is social media website. The internet has become
the basis of modern civilization due to its limitless possibilities and widespread reach as it is
quite instrumental in the storage and dissemination of information and opinion, it has acquired
a unique role in the functioning of democracies all over the world. However, social media also
been increasingly used for illegal acts which has given force to the Governments attempts at
censoring social media. Where on the one hand, the misuse of social media entails the need
for legal censorship, on the other hand, there are legitimate fears of violation of civil rights of
people as an inevitable consequence of censorship. According to World Report of Human
Rights Watch (2014), several different Asian countries using many legal means to clamped
down and criminalized the freedom of speech on the social media (EVI). Vietnam currently
holds the dubious record of being home to the second largest number of imprisoned netizens
in the world, with 18 individuals remaining in prison for their online activities as of April
2013 after China. After this, the Vietnamese government has increased repression and control
over the internet, including by arresting, detaining, and prosecuting a large number of
bloggers and cyber dissidents (EVI). And finally Malaysia, according to Lourdes Charles
(2009) in The Star, which stated In Malaysia, there are six persons were charged under the
Communications and Multimedia Act in March 2009 for insulting the Sultan of Perak on
blogs or other Internet postings (EVI). Thus, it is evident as to why Governments should not
guaranteed social media in Malaysia.
Generally, we strongly agree that freedom of expression should not be guaranteed in
social media in Malaysia. (C)

Among the reasons why a complete freedom of speech should not be allowed in social
media is because it jeopardizes the national security of this country (P1). Issues of national
security have often been convenient justifications for governments to criminalize free speech
on the Internet especially in social media (SA1). This simply means that national security may
be invoked to justify measures limiting certain rights only when they are taken to protect the
existence of the nation or its territorial integrity or political independence against force or
threat of force (SA2). As results, free speech becomes a liability as some will not have
internalized inhibitors to publish that which others will not have internalized capacity to
ignore, and so develop grudges that may cause violent responses (SA3). In other words, hate
speech that incites violence becomes apparent that even a tolerant society has to put some
limits on freedom of expression (A). Therefore, much of the law relating to free speech is
concerned with trying to strike the right balance between freedom of expression and the use of
that freedom in a way that harms society. According to the article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(1948), the Internet has become a key means by which individuals can exercise their right to
freedom of opinion and expression but with the protection of national security or of public
order (ordre public), or of public health or morals (REF). By implementing freedom of
speech in social media, people tend to be more irresponsible or careless on what they say or
write (A). In addition, people can publish anything, which allows citizens to circumvent the
governments official information sources (SA4). Mark Pearson (2013) said: as a Malaysian,
we should respect the rights and reputations of others and for the protection of national
security, public order, public health or morals (REF). On the other hand, in China, according
to the Ministry of Public Safety in 1997, social networking sites such as Twitter, FaceBook,
and Snapchat are banned as a whole and books and foreign films are subject to active
censorship to avoid division of the country and also harming national unification (EVI).
Cultural sensitivities, especially concerning race and religion, are the main obstacles to
the implementation of freedom of speech in Malaysia including in social media (P2).
Malaysia is one of the multicultural country as we have Malay, Chinese and Indian and also
some bumiputera. Multicultural country is many people stay in a country which have different
races, culture, faith and others (DEF). It is very easy to have dispute in a multicultural
country because many of us have different background and knowledge so it might easy to
speak out something that will offend others (SA1). For instance, if you see any car with

number 4, that sure is malays or indians car because chinese do not like 4. That is because 4 in
chinese sounds like (si), means die. So, if someone who do not know this meaning simply
make a joke to a chinese who is very superstition, then a contention will emerge. If Malaysia
allow the freedom of expression, many people can simply speak out and it might touch the
sensitive issues and this will lead the country fall into politics dispute although every citizen
has the right to freedom of speech and expression (A). However, this doesnt mean that people
need to be quiet when they face the inequities. Theres a quote that says:If you think twice
before speaking once, you will speak twice the better for it (REF)(Josh Wu. 2014 May 17.
The freedom of speech). People still can give out their opinion among their friends or family
but at least not at public and they should know that their speech cannot attack someone else.
As the technology advanced in this 21 century, social media website cannot be excluded
among human. Almost all of people cannot live without facebook. The first thing to do when
they wake up and the last thing before sleep is open facebook. The influence power of
facebook beyond your imagination. So, hate speech is now expressed openly in the sphere
especially through social media and there is anxiety that this is just a time bomb to explode if
not managed well (SA2). That is because a lot of people used to write all of their emotion on
the facebook no matter what are that and many people who do not know what happen actually
but they follow the trend to share the post (A). There were three cases of hate speech that
cause from the dominant ethnic groups in Malaysia: the Malays, Chinese and Indians which
have hurt and angered many Malaysians especially for those who want to see good relations
between the different ethnic group in Malaysia. For the Malay case is the newspaper, Utusan
Malaysia have an article with headlined Kristian agama rasmi? on 7 May 2011 , it claims
that Democratic Action Party (DAP) was collaborate with Christian leaders to take over
Putrajaya and abrogate Islam as the religion of the federation. After that, Hishammuddin
Hussein which is the Home Minister has issued a warning letter to the Utusan Malaysia over
of this report. Another case is two chinese post the eating photo on July 2013 which showed
they are eating pork rib soup on facebook during the fasting month and with the caption
fragrant, delicious and appetising, they apologised and pleaded not guilty to three charges
of violating the Sedition Act, the Film Censorship Act and the Penal Code (EVI). As a result,
government should control the speech for people because government have the highest power.
(Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani, professor in politics and international relations. 2013 Dec 23.
Hate Speech and Free Speech in Malaysia) For instance, they can give warning or punishment
to those people who simply speak out to trouble the country. People should also have self
discipline that they should control themselves not to speech the sensitive topic in front people

or on the social media sites. There have a very new and good example that we can take is
Lowyat case at 22 July 2015 (EVI). People who do not know what exactly happened also
follow the trend to spread rumour on internet and try to effect all the people. From psychology
perspective, this action in social media is "contagious " which can affect others. Some people
who are not mature enough will follow it and share the post said that they want to fight to the
other race. As a result, more and more people from different races join into the disputation
and try to use the different of races, cultures,faiths, background and knowledge to attack each
other on social media. This is a very childish attitude because it not only affect our
relationship between different races but also damage our country image. This is because many
people share it on facebook and facebook is allow other countrys people to see it (SA3).
Therefore, Malaysia should not be develop as a freedom of speech country based on the
reason of multicultural.
In view of the above justifications, we believe that freedom of expression cause many bad
effect to us through social media. The first is it jeopardizes the national security of this
country and the second is it is easy to touch our cultural sensitivities. The freedom of
expression is seen as an encouragement tool for more problem among the citizen and national
which eventually result in more danger. Therefore, it should not be guaranteed in Malaysia
(CR).

References
CHARLES, L. (2009). Six to be charged for insulting Perak Sultan via blogs, postings
(Update 2).Retrieved from THE STAR ONLINE: http://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=
%2F2009%2F3%2F12%2Fnation%2F20090312194041
Human_Rights_Watch. (2014). World Report 2014. United States: Seven Stories Press.
PEARSON, M. (2013). Press freedom, social media and the citizen: My 2013 UNESCO
World Press Freedom Day Lecture. Retrieved from Journlaw:
http://journlaw.com/2013/05/05/press-freedom-social-media-and-the-citizen-my-2013unesco-world-press-freedom-day-lecture/

SANI, M. A. (2013). Hate speech and free speech in Malaysia. Retrieved from New Mandala:
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2013/12/23/hate-speech-and-free-speech-inmalaysia/
Tiwari, S., & Ghosh, G. (2013). Social Media and Freedom of Speech and Expression:
Challenges

before

the

Indian

law.

Retrieved

from

acedemia.edu:

http://www.academia.edu/4117408/Social_Media_and_Freedom_of_Speech_and_Expression
_Challenges_before_the_Indian_law

Google doc URL

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ENZXcmMKx0iMilEM219g2qj91VZxpURGwJRDBk
UZLec/edit