Petition Tag - freedom of information

We, Netizens who value internet freedom, call on the Malaysian Government to withdraw the Evidence (Amendment) (No2) Act 2012.

The amendment which has been passed by both Upper and Lower Houses, has wide-ranging reach and extends to practically everyone who uses any internet platform – from e-mail and social media to blogs and online media. We oppose this amendment for these reasons:

1. It presumes guilt rather than innocence which contradicts the basis of many justice systems. The newly introduced Section 114(A)* goes against the principle of presumption of innocence meant to protect individuals against wrongful conviction and check against abuse of power by the authorities.

2. It makes Internet intermediaries -- parties that provide online community forums, blogging and hosting services -- liable for content that is published through its services. It can result in the removal of comment functions, which has a huge impact on the interactive nature of online media favoured by Malaysians.

3. It threatens freedom of expression online because the assumption of guilt has the chilling effect of promoting fear amongst those who use the Internet as a vibrant, interactive space for democratic deliberations. It also reduces the spaces for posting legitimate comments and opinions.

4. It allows hackers and cyber criminals to be free by making the person whose account/computer is hacked liable for any content/data which might have changed. The more skilled you are at hacking, the more the law protects you by assuming the party being hacked is guilty of the offence.

5. It reduces the opportunity to be anonymous online which is crucial in promoting a free and open Internet. This principle is particularly important to safeguard vulnerable individuals who depend on the anonymous nature of the Internet to protect themselves, eg women in situations of domestic violence who may be at risk if they are identified. Anonymity is also indispensable to protect whistleblowers from persecution by the authorities when they expose abuses of power.

6. The amendment is a bad law passed in haste and does not take into account public interest and participation.

Kami, para pengguna internet yang mendukung kebebasan berinternet ingin menggesa pihak Kerajaan Malaysia untuk menarik semula Akta Keterangan (Pindaan) (No.2) 2012 atas sebab-sebab yang berikut:

1. Akta tersebut bertentangan dengan prinsip asas keadilan yang menyatakan bahawa seseorang tidak bersalah selagi belum dibuktikan kesalahannya. Seksyen 114A yang baru diperkenalkan itu boleh mengakibatkan seseorang disabit secara salah dan menjadi mangsa penyalahgunaan kuasa oleh pihak tertentu.

2. Akta tersebut juga menjadikan pihak yang membekalkan perkhidmatan di internet seperti blog, forum dan pengehosan web bertanggungjawab sepenuhnya atas segala isi kandungan yang tersiar atau tersimpan di dalam perkhidmatan tersebut. Pengenalan akta ini boleh menyebabkan ruangan komen pada blog dan laman web yang mempunyai peranan penting dalam dunia interaktif dibuang.

3. Akta yang diperkenalkan ini mengancam kebebasan berinternet kerana tanggapan atas kesalahan yang belum dibuktikan boleh menakut-nakutkan pengguna-pengguna internet yang memanfaatkan internet sebagai satu medan interaktif untuk perbincangan mengenai demokrasi. Akta ini juga menghindarkan pengguna internet daripada mengutarakan pendapat bernas mereka.

4. Akta yang baru diperkenalkan ini juga membolehkan para penggodam dan penjenayah internet bermaharajalela kerana beban kesalahan kini terletak di bahu pihak yang akaun atau komputernya digodam. Secara tidak langsung, para penggodam dan penjenayah siber akan dilindungi oleh akta ini kerana hanya individu yang menjadi mangsa mereka sahaja yang akan disabit kesalahan.

5. Akta tersebut mengurangkan kebebasan individu untuk mengelakkan identiti mereka diketahui ramai. Kebebasan tersebut penting untuk memastikan internet kekal bebas dan terbuka. Penyembunyian identiti juga penting untuk melindungi individu daripada sesuatu yang boleh membahayakan keselamatan mereka contohnya dalam kes keganasan rumahtangga. Selain itu penyembunyian identiti juga akan memastikan pemberi maklumat tidak akan diapa-apakan oleh pihak berkuasa apabila mereka membongkar kes penyalahgunaan kuasa.

6. Akta ini merupakan akta yang tidak digubal dengan baik kerana penggubalan dibuat secara tergesa-gesa tanpa penglibatan rakyat dan tidak menghiraukan kehendak awam.

Perlu ditekankan bahawa akta ini masih belum digazetkan dan dikuatkuasakan lagi. Oleh sebab itu, akta ini perlu segera ditentang dengan cara menandatangani e-petisyen ini.

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The people of Kenya recognize and appreciate the importance of Information in fostering democratic, accountable and just governments. Having the recognition entrenched in article 35 of the constitution is just the first step. FOI is fundamental in putting checks and balances as well as safeguarding the law against prejudices and abuse.

Access to information is as vital:

1. Access to Information will equip the Kenyan citizens with knowledge on their country. With the formation of the county governments, the citizens will be able to investigate the structures in place if they are in conformity with the new Constitution.

2. Access to Information will enhance the citizens to enjoy other rights as provided for in the chapter four (Bill of Rights) of the Constitution. It will also enhance access to education, health and water as provided for in chapter four of the Constitution.

3. An Access to Information legislation will enable the citizens to obtain and understand the daily operation of the government thus enhancing transparency and accountability. The citizen will seek information relating to the central and county governments that will be of public interest e.g How much money has been allocated to the counties, how much money has been allocated to the health care, education and water services and who are the beneficiaries of such allocations.

4. Access to Information will enhance citizen participation in development and democratic activities. The citizens will have a right to suggest how the constituency development funds should be utilized, they will probe and monitor constituency bursary fund and local authority transfer fund and who are the beneficiaries.

5. Access to Information will enables the citizens to probe discussions e.g employment in public institutions and the process of hiring people to the civil service.

Access to information is central to public participation in the enforcement and protection of the Constitution. It is also important in enabling citizens to play their watchdog role in safeguarding public resources.

We now have the chance again to support its legislation in parliament.

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Iranian regime has been depriving Iranians from their rights to access trustworthy foreign satellite media. It is time for the Regime to pay back.

Service providers are asked to impose sanctions on the Iranian regime so that the Iranian government cannot reach foreign audience through its TV and Radio Channels.

Sign this petition and say NO to the Iranian regime.

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Since 2001, the United States government has refused to grant visas to scores of foreign writers, scholars, artists, and activists on the basis of their ideas, political views, and associations. Individuals currently excluded from the U.S. include Swiss-born Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, who was not allowed to enter the country to assume a tenured teaching position at the University of Notre Dame; Basque historian and PEN member Iñaki Egaña, who was denied entry when he tried to come to the U.S. for research on a Basque author who was a target of MacCarthyism, and Haluk Gerger, a Turkish journalist and sociologist who PEN defended and the U.S. State Department supported in the 1990s when he was jailed repeatedly for his writings on Turkey’s Kurdish minority.

Prevalent during the Cold War, ideological exclusion kept such writers as Gabriel García Marquez, Mahmoud Darwish, Pablo Neruda, and Doris Lessing out of the United States for many years. PEN believes excluding international colleagues on the basis of their ideas and opinions violates the First Amendment rights of Americans to hear these views and engage with the speakers. Ideological exclusion does not make us safer; instead, it impoverishes cultural exchange and academic and political debate, and sends a message that our country is more interested in silencing than engaging its critics.

Stand with PEN in urging the Obama administration to end ideological exclusion and allow a full and free exchange of information and ideas.

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The federal government intends to censor illegal content on the Internet, compulsorily. We will not be given a choice to view this material, unlike the previous net nanny proposal. It will simply become inaccessible by all Australians. These restrictions will put Australia on the same level as countries such as China, Cuba, Iran and North Korea.

See article “Net clamp on users” in the Courier Mail on Wednesday 29 October, 2008, page 5.

The problem lies with defining “illegal content”. So far euthanasia and pro-anorexia sites are on the chopping block. What’s next? Illegal content will be defined and redefined by the government from time to time as they see fit depending on their personal views and political stance. Senator Conroy himself admitted that he does not know what content the mandatory filter would bar. This is unacceptable and an intolerable restriction on our freedom of speech (which is the freedom to speak freely without censorship or limitation) and our freedom of information.

How far will this go? If this trend continues, then perhaps you might not be able to even read this petition soon, having been blocked by the government as being undesirable or anti-government.

We should at least retain our right to choose. People who do wish to have unrestricted access to the Internet should be able to opt for this. Government should not have unfettered control over our freedom of speech, expression and freedom of information.

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