My 3rd issue of Bread and Kaya was published by Digital News Asia<\/a> on 7 March 2013. <\/p>\n Bread & Kaya: Looks can be deceiving!<\/strong><\/p>\n – Under Malaysian laws, what amounts to obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character is quite wide Bread & Kaya by Foong Cheng Leong<\/strong><\/p>\n A COUPLE of weeks ago, I received a message with the title “Looks can be deceiving!” on my blog’s Facebook page, from an unknown user.<\/p>\n In the message, the user claimed that a certain celebrity was having an affair with another celebrity. Unknown to the user, I happen to know former and I alerted that celebrity.<\/p>\n A day after that, the user deleted her account! Fortunately, I saved a screenshot of the message.<\/p>\n Coincidentally, I found that someone had searched for the celebrity\u2019s name on the day the message was sent and landed on my blog. My blog captured the transaction, together with the Internet Protocol (IP) address, time-stamp and other details. It was the only transaction searching for the celebrity\u2019s name.<\/p>\n There was also a record to show that the user clicked on the link to my blog\u2019s Facebook page. From this, there is a possibility that the author had found my blog using the celebrity\u2019s name (and my blog appears on the first page of search results) and decided to send me that message.<\/p>\n A query on the IP address shows that the user resides in Malaysia and is thus subject to the laws of Malaysia. The celebrity may file an action in court to obtain the user account details of the IP address if she wishes to. Alternatively, she may make a police report against that person.<\/p>\n The lesson of the story is: If you want to do naughty things online, remember to mask your tracks (e.g. by using proxies); otherwise the law will come knocking on your door. Internet trolls have been living amongst us and many still roam the streets of cyberspace.<\/p>\n This brings me to the topic of this article: Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.<\/p>\n Section 233 makes it an offence to post any content which is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person.<\/p>\n Anyone who does so is liable to a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both, and shall also be liable to a further fine of RM1,000 for every day during which the offence is continued after conviction. It\u2019s a widely used tool by law enforcers to nab Internet trolls.<\/p>\n [RM1 = US$0.32]<\/p>\n What amounts to obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character is quite wide. Making prank emergency calls (PP v Sow Kuen Chun; Criminal Case No. 63- 01- 2008<\/a>); and insulting the Sultan (PP v Muslim bin Ahmad; [2013] 1 AMR 436<\/a>); offensive comments (Nor Hisham Bin Osman v PP; Criminal Case No: MTJ(2)44-14-2010)<\/a>), and (PP v Rutinin Bin Suhaimin (Criminal Case No. K42-60-2010<\/a>)) are examples where people were charged under Section 233.<\/p>\n [Click links above to download case files]<\/p>\n PP v Muslim bin Ahmad and PP v Rutinin Bin Suhaimin are both recently decided cases and they relate to the Perak constitutional crisis. Both men had allegedly posted offensive comments towards the Sultan of Perak after Barisan Nasional took over the state of Perak. Both men alleged that they did not post the comments, notwithstanding that the IP addresses point to them.<\/p>\n Muslim bin Ahmad was acquitted by the Sessions Court and Rutinin bin Suhaimin was discharged by the Sessions Court without his defense being called. The prosecution had apparently failed to show that the persons who posted the offensive comments were the accused.<\/p>\n I am told that the impact of the said Sessions Court decisions was one of the reasons why Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950 was introduced \u2013 that is, to facilitate the prosecution in proving the identity of the maker.<\/p>\n
\n– Sessions Court decisions perhaps the reasons why Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950 was introduced<\/strong><\/p>\n