Not too long ago, two bills quietly surfaced on the other side of the pool over in the United States. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (PROTECT-IP Act). They were called the protector of content creators, championed as the fighter against piracy.
In reality? Not as straightforward.
On 20th January, 2012, both bills were shelved due to “fundamental problems with the approach taken to solving the matter of online piracy”. This came after long weeks of both online and street protests highlighting the inefficiencies of the bills and how they could be used for other ulterior motives. It was a near-save for the concerned internet users watching not just in the U.S., but all over the world, as it was a turning point that would set a precedence for other potential bills to come.
Fast forward eight months, and we face a new, more personal challenge. It’s called Section 114A.
It’s not often that I pause work on an article to do another one on the spot. It’s even less often that I receive crucial news through Facebook (perhaps due to my own increasing negligence of Malaysian news). But several days ago, I saw this.
Like a stone dropped in an icy lake, my heart grew cold. I admit, I never believed that such a law would appear in my country. “We’re not advanced enough,” I told myself. “It wouldn’t happen, at least in the near future.” Apparently, I was wrong.
For those who aren’t already in the know about this act, this site explains it in full detail, but a summary goes like this: it is an amendment to the Evidence Act that states that any owner, administrator, host or even subscriber of a network or website or network, is presumed to have published the content that was posted on that website or through that network. If accused, you will be responsible to provide proof that you are innocent or face conviction. Sounds reasonable? A slim ‘maybe’, until you sit back and start thinking about the possibilities.
How many of us let others use our devices? Our WiFi networks? How many of us publish blogs or perhaps own websites? A ‘yes’ to any of the previous questions means that you will, by all means, be significantly endangered. That’s because with every status update, every comment, every photo, published online either through you (network) or with you (your site), you will be held fully liable if any single one of them violates the law or brushes someone else the wrong way.
The possible scenarios are far too many, and best shown by the infographic above. All that I will say is this: the law is far, far too wide. But the main issue is, as with SOPA and PIPA, not about the law itself. No, honestly speaking, while I believe its impact will be devastating, on the bigger scale of things it’s not as huge. What’s most frightening is that it completely reverses on of the most fundamental building blocks of justice: Innocent until proven guilty. And if we start down on this path here, where does it end?
That’s what makes this amendment so important: like the bills in the U.S., this is a precedence, a turning point. It will set the trend of laws governing to internet for years to come. While many of us dream of a continued unregulated internet, it’s won’t be so for much longer - as the increasingly most important medium for communication, laws will be set for it. But for the same reason, we should fight our hardest to defend it from too much control, especially by any one authority (like the government in this case). A review has been called for this amendment, but things are far from over. Unlike what many Malaysians think, this is not about supporting the government or opposition or whatever - we’ve politicised too many issues - but about holding on to the basic rights of freedom of speech and right to justice.
We’ve lost it in newspapers. We’ve lost it in radio and television. Are we going to lose it on the internet too?
But the saddest thing, really, is how this issues exemplifies the ignorance of Malaysians. One thing that Section 114A is different from SOPA and PIPA, besides being more focused on defamation than piracy, is that it’s actually passed. Right under our noses, with opposition only brewing now. The video about Section 114A by the Centre for Independent Journalism only has more than 26,000 views, for Christ’s sake. In this near fifty-five years of independence, we’ve grown lazy and complacent. We don’t care about our rights any more. To us, as long as we can ‘cari makan’ and live a ‘safe life’, we’re happy.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Benjamin Franklin
As our 55th National Day approaches, let us remind ourselves who we are. We’re not individuals, we’re a nation. We share the same laws and rights just like we share the same identity cards and territorial borders. It’s time to start acting like a nation and start taking control of our destiny. The struggle has been long for a long time, but we shall continue to fight it, and maybe we can finally start fighting with a little more gusto and enthusiasm. Remember, this is not someone else’s liberty, not someone else’s battle.
It’s our battle, and this time it’s for the internet.
Note: Although, like previously mentioned, Section 114A is in some ways different from SOPA and PIPA, there are many similarities and warning signs. Thus, I have uploaded my research essay on those bills here. Please take some time to read it.
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