Malaysians Test Limits of Press Freedom
Government Pledge Not to Censor Internet Creates Opportunity for Journalists

By Alan Sipress
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, November 2, 2003; Page A15

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- First police raided the modest newsroom, hauling away the 19 computers that journalists used to produce their online report and put it beyond the reach of the country's stifling press restrictions.

Two days later, the landlord informed journalists for the Web site, Malaysiakini, that they were being evicted from their offices, tucked down a narrow side street of buildings and apartment blocks, for activities contravening the laws of the land.

Nine months later, Malaysiakini (www.malaysiakini.com) has recovered all but two of its computers and rebuffed the eviction order. But the chief editor, Steven Gan, faces the prospect of three years in prison on sedition charges for refusing to reveal the author of an anonymous letter that criticized the government's affirmative action policies for ethnic Malays. The letter referred to "the pernicious politics of privilege that pervade Malaysia."

In a country where newspapers rarely cross rulers, Malaysiakini has offered up aggressive reporting and diverse opinions over the last four years by taking advantage of the government's pledge not to censor the Internet.

This guarantee, part of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's bid to develop the country as an international high-tech hub, inadvertently left officials with a gap in the wall of media restraints. Reporters Without Borders this year ranked Malaysia at 105 out of 166 countries in terms of press freedom.

About three weeks ago, a senior government official warned that Malaysiakini remained under scrutiny and would not be allowed to overstep the freedom accorded cyberspace. The country's election commission announced separately in July that it would monitor material circulated on the Internet and by e-mail, tracking down and punishing those who discuss "sensitive issues" ahead of the national vote expected early next year. It was unclear what the commission considered to be sensitive.

"The election is coming up and the government is worried that their monopoly of truth can be challenged. They're basically trying to spook everybody," Gan said in an interview.

Gan, 40, who has also worked as a freelance reporter in Hong Kong and Bangkok, launched the Web site with a fellow Malaysian journalist during a brief spring of political ferment around the 1999 elections to cover backroom debates within the ruling coalition and its opposition. Since then, the online report has chronicled developments in the case of Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir's former deputy, who was jailed five years ago after challenging the prime minister, and recently explored a questionable logging concession awarded to the ruling party. The letters column has become a forum for freewheeling debate.

This vigorous coverage has been a prod to print media, which unlike Malaysiakini need an annual license to publish. Aware of the online competition, some newspapers now touch on subjects, such as judicial nominations, that previously would have gone uncovered, according to Mustafa Kamal bin Anuar, a communications professor at the Science University of Malaysia. He said papers have also responded by enlivening their pages with letters critical of official policies -- though within clear limits.

But the situation remains tenuous. "The Malaysiakini raid serves as a reminder that whatever freedom that is available on the Internet can be fragile in Malaysia, particularly if that Web site becomes increasingly interesting and critical," Anuar said. He noted that most who write letters to the Web site decline to sign their names, underscoring the continuing fear of official reprisal.

Malaysiakini's current troubles were provoked by a letter penned under the pseudonym Petrof. The author attacked long-standing policies favoring Malaysia's majority Malay community over the Chinese and Indian minorities, drawing a comparison with the white-supremacist agenda of the Ku Klux Klan.

The youth wing of the ruling party, the United Malays National Organization, filed a complaint with the police. Days later, about 10 officers raided the newsroom. The deputy home minister, Zainal Abidin Zin, explained at the time: "Where there are any parties committing acts which are unjust against society, the government must act responsibly to defend the rights of the people."

Gan and four members of his staff were subsequently interrogated at the police station about the offending letter. Gan took responsibility for publishing the letter but, citing journalistic ethics, declined to reveal the identity or e-mail address of its author. After carrying off four servers and 15 other newsroom computers, the police later returned all of the equipment except for two of the servers, which they retained as possible evidence.

But the raid shook the Web site's readers and contributors. "We got a lot of e-mails from readers expressing concern that they didn't want their employers to know they subscribe to Malaysiakini. There's quite a lot of fear out there," Gan said. Letters to the Web site, which usually number about 50 daily, dropped by half before eventually picking up again.

The Web site continues to claim 50,000 hits a day.

It is unclear whether the long-expected resignation of Mahathir as prime minister Friday will influence Malaysiakini's fate. Political observers said, however, there is little reason to believe that his replacement, Abdullah Badawi, will take a more liberal approach to the media until he has consolidated his political position.

Gan, meantime, waits for word about whether he is headed for trial. A home ministry official said last month that police had completed their investigation of his Web site and turned their findings over to Malaysia's attorney general for possible prosecution.

"I will definitely fight it," Gan said. "It's an act of intimidation, a kind of harassment. But at the end of the day, our operation will continue."

© 2003 The Washington Post Company

return to CM 385 Page
return to Courses Page
return to Home Page