Malaysia not alone in wanting to curb hate expressions on internet

Malaysia is not alone in wanting to restrict websites from evoking hatred and disrupting unity among the people. Germany is demanding that Facebook abides by its laws banning hate expressions in the social media.

In an interview with Reuters, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said Germany had zero tolerance for racist sentiment in social media including in Facebook, the United States-based company, even if this might be allowed in the United States under freedom of speech.

"If Facebook wants to do business in Germany, then it must abide by German laws. It doesn't matter that we, because of historical reasons, have a stricter interpretation of freedom of speech than the United States does," he said.

He said inciting racial hatred was a crime in Germany whether it was posted on Facebook or uttered in public in the market square.

"The Internet isn't a place where laws are ignored, where indictable comments can be spread with impunity... there is no scope for misplaced tolerance towards Internet users who spread racist propaganda," Maas said.

Malaysia showed similar resolve against any disruption of order yesterday, when the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission blocked four websites found to be promoting and disseminating information on the illegal Bersih 4 rally.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said the websites were http://bersih.org, http://globalbersih.org, http://www.bersih.org and http://www.globalbersih.org.

MCMC made the decision on the grounds that the website postings could threaten national stability.