Screenshots

August 29, the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum Complaints Bureau completed the mediation meetings pertaining to P.Gunasegaram's complaint over a Screenshots reader's comment, and over which Nexnews Media Group had framed as criminally intimidating.

The mediation results were released by the Complaints Bureau yesterday, and the Bureau has given Screenshots the consent to publish them verbatim in lieu of the full minutes of the meetings, which the Bureau has classified as 'Private and Confidential'.:

theSun has a report uploaded on its website at 07:27pm on Tuesday, August 29, 2006, titled: Writer of offensive post apologises.

Click here to download a copy of the Mediation Results in PDF(837kb).

Ins-and-outs of Nexnews' attempt

Here's a brief of the sequence of events in which NexNews Media Group had wanted to rein in this blogger for an alleged offence he didn't commit.

Nexnews Media Group, the publisher of theSun and The Edge which is majority-owned by Canadian-based Tong Kooi Ong and property/gaming tycoon Vincent Tan, recently has a case against readers who leave comments in weblogs.

theSun carried on Page 2 of its August 4, 2006 edition a story titled: Report lodged against internet website. It said:

theSun and Nexnews Group Executive Editor P. Gunasegaram yesterday lodged a complaint against an internet website for carrying a posting inciting people to do bodily harm to Gunasegaram over an article he wrote.

The complaint was made to the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (CMCF), an industry body set up under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1988 that is tasked with monitoring contents and handling complaints.

Gunasegaram had written an article "The Myth of Mahathir's Invincibility" that appeared in theSun on Wednesday. The website concerned had on the same day reproduced the article and solicited reaction. Several people responded and someone who identified himself as "IImran" suggested that Gunasegaram be shot for his views on Mahathir.

In the same story, theSun also said:

Nexnews Group Editor-in-Chief Ho Kay Tat said: "The website concerned is moderated by blogger Jeff Ooi who we hold responsible for allowing the posting `Somebody, please shoot this Gunasegaram for good' to appear on his website.

"While we have no problem having anyone debate, discuss or even challenge what Gunasegaram wrote and indeed many people have ­ threat of bodily harm is another thing altogether and should be taken seriously," said Ho. "It was irresponsible of Ooi to allow the posting on his website. We do not understand what motivated him to allow it." [...]

Ho said it was decided that a formal complaint to CMCF should still be made because there should be no repeat of such internet postings on that or any other website.

"The internet is not a lawless entity where people can do anything they want," he said. "It is still subject to the laws of the country."

He added that as a newspaper group, Nexnews supports freedom of speech and freedom of expression but a threat to hurt someone is criminal intimidation, not freedom of expression.

"Freedom of expression does not extend to inciting people to cause harm to someone else," Ho said. "Indeed, the threat to Gunasegaram was clearly meant to shut him up. Those of us who cherish freedom of expression should be abhorred that a website that claims to be a champion of free speech saw it fit to allow someone to make that threat."

The complaint was brought to the attention of the Complaints Bureau, Communications and Multimedia Content Forum. A mediation meeting was convened on August 21, which was subsequently adjourned to another meeting held on August 29.

Read on for the Mediation Results in full.