Sarah Mills's Blog
Sarah Mills female
A proper girly girl with a serious addiction to clothes, bags, shoes, makeup (and the list goes on) who still hangs on to her old school, scratched up gadgets and doesn't believe in throwing them unless they have completely died of death. Loves shopping, cooking and of course munching. Now part of the HardwareZone Malaysia team, I am ready to venture into the big wide world of tech!
The purpose of Section 114A is to deal with offending or harmful content published on the Internet. This is done by presuming that those named or photographed appears in any publication are presumed guilty of posting offending content on the Internet unless they can prove their innocence. In other words, officials are able to quickly get hold of the person accountable for publishing such offending content online. Although it may seem to have good intentions, it can affect any owner, administrator, host, editor, subscriber of a network or digital devices.
Individuals that Section 114A will hold accountable for publishing content online:
• Those who own, administrate or edit websites that are open to public contributions such as a blog or online forum.
• Those who provide webhosting services or Internet access.
• Those who own a computer or mobile phone used to upload content to the Internet.
Basically, if the defamatory materials are traced back to a person’s username, electronic device, or Wi-Fi network, then Section 114A will presume that person is guilty of publishing the harmful content online. However, the problem with this is: What if someone hacked into that person’s account or Wi-Fi network to deliberately post malicious material? This adds another problem for the victim; they would be considered guilty until proven innocent.
Reasons what is wrong with Section 114A and how it can impact the digital world:
• Bloggers and those working in social media will need to be extra vigilant as they will be responsible for any comments posted up on blogs or Facebook pages, which can be posted by anyone.
• Public Wi-Fi networks may be affected as not all public Wi-Fi networks carry out constant monitoring methods, therefore increasing the risk of people using the network to post defamatory comments and the owner taking the blame.
• It will burden average Internet users by allowing hackers to be free by making the person whose account/computer that has been hacked liable for the offending content unless that person can prove their innocence.
Even with an Internet Blackout day on August 14, where many people did not post anything on the web on that particular day, Section 114A is still approved.
So what are my thoughts on Section 114A?
I don’t believe Malaysians should have this hanging over their heads. First of all, it will ruin Malaysia’s Internet industry. Other Asian countries will race ahead of Malaysia in the digital world as blogging, social media, digital advertising and even possibly Internet shopping will be affected. Malaysians are just netizens who want to use the Internet to express themselves. In a way, it’s basically taking away their freedom of speech! Plus, companies may decide to withdraw their public Wi-Fi networks, meaning no free Wi-Fi access, which will be like going back to prehistoric times! So all you average netizens, please be aware and do not to let anyone frape (slang for a friend accessing your account without your knowledge and posting very embarrassing statuses) your Facebook/Twitter account!
