Amnesty International Malaysia launches virtual campaign to raise awareness of censorship

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 30): Amnesty International Malaysia has launched a virtual campaign titled “Unsilenced” to raise awareness of negative effects of censorship in Malaysia.

Its executive director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said attacks on the right to freedom of expression are once again rising in Malaysia.

“Repressive laws are still in the books, and more and more people are coming under police investigation simply for speaking their minds,” she said in a recent statement.

She said the Unsilenced campaign gives everyone an opportunity to take action and call on the government to repeal the main laws denying people in Malaysia the right to freely express themselves.

Maliamauv said after the change in government, two of the most widely deployed laws to unduly restrict the right to freedom of expression, the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), had frequently been used against human rights defenders, journalists and social media users who criticise the government, royalty or religion.

Sexual minorities have also been targets of government restrictions, she said.

“Recent proposals to revive the Anti-Fake News Law (Act) and the ‘propaganda unit’ of the Special Affairs Department (JASA) under a new name raise further concerns that the country is sliding back to an era of fear and repression,” said Maliamauv.

Amnesty International Malaysia also urged the authorities to ensure the Sedition Act is abolished and that similar laws infringing on the right to freedom of expression, including Section 233 of the CMA, different provisions of the Penal Code, the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and Film Censorship Act, are repealed or substantially amended.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets