Hishammuddin: No govt plan to abolish Sedition Act

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plan to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 as its provisions are still relevant at the present time, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today. He said the provisions enabled the government to act if individuals or organisations attempted to undermine security and public order.

"Individuals who use words of a seditious nature in their speech or writing can be prosecuted under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act," he said in a written reply to Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) in the Dewan Rakyat.

Karpal Singh had asked whether the government was prepared to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 which was formulated to stop protests against the formation of the Malayan Union proposed by the British administration then.

Meanwhile, Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said the government does not intend to list or register bloggers and they are free to convey information in the Internet.

He said the freedom accorded, however, was subject to the laws of the country in the interest of racial harmony.

"In the process of conveying the information, they are free to note, convey or inform whatever information no matter what is being imposed by the authorities. So far, we have not listed or registered any blogger operating on the Internet.

"The honourable member must accept this fact, and there is no plan to do so," he said when replying to a supplementary question from Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting, today.

Lim had questioned why the government was not intensifying efforts to widen the broadband services to the people in the country, claiming that the government was instead giving more emphasis on restricting the freedom of bloggers operating on the Internet.

When replying to the original question from Datuk Ismail Abd Muttalib (BN-Maran), Rais said the print and electronic media were subject to various laws to ensure that the contents were not slanderous or seditious that could cause chaos among the multiracial society.

He said as licence holders under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia 1998 Act, the contents carried by private broadcasters were closely regulated by the ministry through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), and must abide by the special conditions of the licence on the contents carried.

Rais also said the government was intensifying efforts to increase broadband penetration in the interior areas and schools. (TheEdge)