CIJ STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE COMMUNICATIONS AND MULTIMEDIA MINISTRY’S INVESTIGATION OF ZUL ARIFFIN
March 28, 2022
The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is alarmed by the recent announcement on Twitter by Communications and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa, regarding the investigation of actor Zul Ariffin under Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998. The actor is being investigated for posting onto Instagram a “sexually suggestive” scene from the yet-to-air Malay drama series Perempuan Itu. Tan Sri Annuar Musa’s Tweet stated that the posting was in violation of the law.
Censorship is often done in the name of morality and decency, which is also the reason cited by Tan Sri Annuar Musa. However, these notions are not universal, and in using restrictive laws to effectively censor and punish individuals for difference in expression, we may fall onto a slippery slope leading to intolerance. Malaysia, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, prides herself in the diversity of cultures, individualities, and opinions, which inevitably leads to a diverse set of concepts surrounding morality. It is then the responsibility of the State to perceive content as pluralistic in nature.
Additionally, the freedom of expression is not only limited to the liberty for dissidence or criticism, but should also be a license for creative freedom. This investigation is closing doors on any notion of artistic autonomy in Malaysia’s creative industry. It is also removing the viewers’ choice to make informed decisions with regards to their entertainment options. It is not beneficial to the public for any authority to gatekeep content through moral policing, much less potentially punish individuals for it. A simple solution to this would have been to rely on the programme classification wherever the programme is aired, which would have automatically flagged this as matured content, hence allowing the viewers to make their informed choice.
We call on:
1) Tan Sri Annuar Musa to retract all investigations towards Zul Ariffin and the cast and crew related to the production of Perempuan Itu, and stop the arbitrary usage of legislations for censorship; Section 233 of the CMA, in itself is deeply problematic for its over-broad definitions accompanied with heavy punishment that infringes upon the constitutional right to FOE. The section allows a person(s) to be imprisoned for up to one year and fined up to RM50,000 for posting offensive content that ‘annoys’ another person. This goes far beyond the legitimate restrictions allowed on FOE, such as preventing incitement to violence or for national security. According to our media monitoring data, last year alone, at least 236 individuals were implicated in 140 police investigations, arrests, and charges related to Section 233 of the CMA.
2) Stop using existing regressive legal provisions, such as Section 233 of the CMA, to censor and silence non-conforming voices. The State must also review and adopt a moratorium on the arbitrary use of Section 233 of the CMA, besides moving towards repealing and amending its vague provisions per our Federal Constitution and international standards on FOE;
3) Work together with civil society organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders to better understand and define online content removal and censorship while taking into account the local context, existing community standards by social media companies and keeping in line with international human rights standards on FOE, equality, non-discrimination, and diversity;
4) Create an enabling environment that promotes critical thinking, healthy debates, transparency, and accountability is focused on building the peoples’ trust and enable informed decision making – not further undermine the peoples’ human rights.
22 March 2022
Wathshlah G Naidu
CIJ Executive Director
For media inquiries, contact comms@cijmalaysia.net
