Where do we go from here?

Malaysia’s ranking in RSF’s Freedom Index 2006 is hardly surprising. With the strict media laws that we are familiar with, media personnel constantly have to work around the system to get materials published, particularly sensitive ones that touch on race relations, religion and of course criticisms against the government.

In earlier blog entries, I noted that Bruce, Erwin had raised issues about Malaysian authorities attempting to restrict bloggers after a heated discussions about race relations at a high profile political assembly last November. Authorities cited reasons to maintain national security, threatening also to shut these blogs down using similar forces already in place to control the print and broadcast mediums in the country.

This move goes against the policy of non-interference on Internet content. The former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, during the development of the Multimedia Super Corridor, insisted that content on the Web to be free of any control or influence. The Internet phenomenon boomed and now we have mass amounts of information being delivered. This I believe authorities did not expect, hence hitting the panic button by threatening to shut down blogging operations was one knee-jerk response.

We are moving to a whole new level of information delivery, it is no longer about reading yesterday’s news, information is delivered at real-time basis today, and it affects policy decisions, investment decisions and even social behavior. I find the environment is challenging but also uncontrollable. Yes, the question is do we need a form of control to hinder the freedom of speech, the freedom to express oneself, but do we also need control to avoid bloody racial riots of 1969, deadly religious clashes from the Danish caricature issue. I believe this space we have created, via blogs, chatrooms and in this class, gives us the opportunity to reflect and reanalyze our roles on to work in this very dynamic environment.