Recently, a law firm reportedly representing Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) issued a letter of demand to Pahang MCA Youth chief Ms.Wong Siew Mun demanding that she issue a formal apology over a video she uploaded.
Earlier, she was summoned by police and reportedly investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, relating to causing public fear and misuse of network facilities.
The letter reportedly demanded that she take down a Bahasa Malaysia TikTok video on freedom of speech, issue a public apology within 24 hours—with the content subject to MCMC’s approval—and provide a written undertaking not to repeat similar comments on any social media platform and failure to comply would result in civil legal action.
In Nov 2023, the then Deputy Communications and Digital Minister said in Parliament that a total of 65 charges have been filed under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 out of 876 cases investigated in the five-year period between January 2018 and Nov 15, 2023.
A report by Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) reportedly claimed during the 1st year of rule by Perikatan Nasional (PN) ie from Feb 2020 to Jan 2021, 86 cases were filed under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
She also confirmed that both the police and MCMC have investigation powers under Section 233 and if a case is being investigated by the police, MCMC will not investigate to avoid a double jeopardy situation.
If it is not being investigated by the police, then MCMC still retains its own investigation powers.
Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (“CMA”) which, among others, criminalises the use of network facilities or network services by a person to transmit any communication that is deemed to be offensive and could cause annoyance to another person.
Section 233(3) of the CMA stipulates, upon conviction, the imposition of a maximum fine of RM50,000 or a maximum one–year jail term or both, as well as a further fine of RM1,000 for every day the offence is continued after conviction.
Since its introduction in 1988, numerous groups of civil societies including the Malaysian Bar have voiced their concerns on the usage of this section.
In fact, the Malaysian Bar also passed a resolution, twice, in 2015 and 2023 calling for the repeal of section 263 and section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Moving forward, the ordinary rakyat is praying fervently that all the political parties in this country agree unilaterally for this clause to be revised to communicate clearly the kinds of content that are unacceptable beyond vague and broad concepts like “affecting public tranquility” and intended to “annoy”.
Politicians on both sides of the divide should not keep silent, for the same act could also be used on you in the future.
By not addressing this issue, the politicians themselves may be setting a precedent that could be used against them later.
By being clear on how it would apply, the general public could probably be better able to regulate their conduct accordingly with better legal certainty.
Certainty of apprehension, not the severity of the ensuing legal consequence, is a more effective deterrent i.e punishments are not the end all, be all to address the issues which Sect 233 was designed for.
It needs to be underscored that those who are truly motivated to create disinformation and cause harm could potentially be hiding their true identities through false social media accounts or by utilising off the shelf virtual private networks or even conduct their operations from other jurisdictions putting Malaysian legislations out of reach.
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