This event has passed.

Report Launch – Internet Freedoms in Malaysia: Regulating Online Discourse on Race, Religion, and Royalty

Name: Report Launch – Internet Freedoms in Malaysia: Regulating Online Discourse on Race, Religion, and Royalty
Start: 2023-03-01T19:00:00+07:00
End: 2023-03-01T20:00:00+07:00

1 March 2023 @ 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM BMT

Click here to Register

Internet Freedoms in Malaysia: Regulating Online Discourse on Race, Religion, and Royalty analyses how Malaysia’s legal provisions impact online discussions of the 3Rs (race, religion and royalty) that question the special position of the Malays, Islam and the Monarchy. The report explains that Malaysia’s restrictive legal provisions inherited from the colonial era and expanded during the six decades of successive UMNO-led BN governments are used to regulate the online discourse of the 3Rs.

Following the 2022 general election, Malaysia finds itself at a political crossroads where three different narratives on the 3Rs that this report labels as traditional, progressive, and right-wing are being used by political parties and coalitions to appeal to the Malay-Muslim community for political legitimacy.

As it was before the 2022 general election, the report argues that websites will continue to be blocked, online content removed, and individuals and organisations connected to the production and dissemination of content that questions the special position of the Malays, Islam and the Monarchy investigated and prosecuted. Meanwhile, online harassment and hate content will continue to be weaponised by ultranationalist groups against those who hold different views in relation to the 3Rs and are allowed to do so without legal consequences.

To improve internet freedoms in the country, this report makes several key recommendations directed at the government, the national human rights institution, parliamentarians, civil society, and technology companies. The implementation of recommendations can help ensure that the 3Rs can be discussed safely without unwarranted censorship and self-censorship in Malaysia.

The report is researched and published by Asia Centre with the support of The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL)

Date: 1 March 2023
Time: 7:00 PM Thailand Time (GMT+7)
8:00 PM Malaysia Time (GMT+8)
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Registration Form: https://forms.gle/3a86siGRTCSmMECa6

Contact: research@asiacentre.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asiacentre.org/

Details

Date:: 1 March 2023
Time:: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM BMT
Event Category:: Event

Asia Centre is a social enterprise that serves as a think-tank, convenes meetings and undertakes projects through collaborative partnerships.

It established its first centre in 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand whose activities focus on human rights issues in the region.

In 2018, Asia Centre established a second centre in Johor Bahru, Malaysia with a focus on arts and culture.

Asia Centre provides advisory and consultancy services for educational institutions, international organizations, non-profit organizations and other institutions in the private and public sector. It conducts research, publishes its findings, organises events and runs capacity building programmes.