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Slowly, opinions are coming out on a cocktail of issues relating to bloggers, freedom of expression, defamation suits, progressive jurisdiction and bloggers' role in nation building.

There are also experts who are saying that defamation laws are not definite death-knells that give no recourse avenues to the defendants for alleged libel and defamation.

January 21, barrister-blogger Malik Imtiaz Sarwar wrote in his blog, Disquiet:

1. Blogging on the internet is not immune from legal process.


2. Blogging plays a crucial role in socio-political Malaysia and in nation building efforts.


3. Keeping the foregoing in mind, it becomes apparent that where suits are brought against blogs that are recognized as playing a crucial role in nation building, then it is the nation building process itself that is being threatened.

You may notice that Imtiaz holds exactly the same views as I do, that Internet does not operate in a legal vacuum, a message I helped accentuate years ago, in my days drafting the baby-codes for the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and consistently in this blog.

'Dangers of misusing blogs'

However, while agreeing that the Internet doesn't operate in a legal vacuum, theSun claimed that those who think the NSTP's defamation suit the bloggers is an attempt to curb freedom of expression on the Internet is wrong.

Interestingly, in its editorial today, theSun, holds a different view by classifying the type of bloggers who are a menace, which reflects a somewhat consistent stance of some of its senior editors. theSun had actually zeroed in on the description of bloggers who destroy blogging, albeit innuendos without naming names:

Yes, bloggers should unite, but unite against those who misuse the blogs because they are the real threat to the future of blogging.

Incidentally, theSun did not use the picture that Rocky and I -- a tall Melayu and a typical Chinaman -- posed for its photographer yesterday. We had held our four hands together to signify Bloggers Unite. We had rejected her request for a pose to punch in the air, Reformasi-style.

Progressive jurisdiction

In another story today, theSun quoted Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh as saying defamation laws apply to all media, including online media, and that they are meant to protect not just individuals but also corporations from being maligned by false allegations.

However, Yeo also stressed the importance of striking a balance between seeking redress for the defamed parties, and allowing room for freedom of expression. Quote:

“We need to look at how other progressive jurisdictions strike this balance. For example, in advanced countries like Canada, there is decreasing emphasis on monetary compensation but increasing emphasis on the rights of response or reply by the individuals who were defamed. “This is not an easy task but we should allow maximum freedom of expression but, at the same time, [we should] not ignore the rights of individuals not to be defamed.”

I am pleased to announce that Lim Guan Eng has arranged for me to speak alongside Yeo at a public forum February 6.

Thus far, in the media reports, only Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia journalism lecturer Prof Dr Mohd Safar Hashim -- he once told me he monitored my blog daily -- has emerged to state that the Defamation Act also gives protection to the accused, through four types of defence, namely truth and justifications, qualified privilege, fair comments, and unintentional mistake.

That was what I roughly told the press conference yesterday, but I am not sure how many reporters managed to help their editors pick it up for today's papers.

Get the story out if mainstream media fail to do so

In contrast, this is what Malaysiakini reported of my opinion expressed at the CIJ Malaysia/WAMI press conference yesterday:

He explained that blogging to him was not about the freedom of expression but for the gathering of discussions and debates.

“We’ll leave it to the experts to define what freedom of expression is but [...] but my focus is to tell a story that the mainstream media is not printing.

“Bloggers come to give it an intellectual definition how we can get this conversation along. But if you use laws to muzzle bloggers, that is another question,” he said.

Though the excerpts do not vividly portrayed what I actually said, that sort of reflects what Imtiaz had meant by the bloggers' role in nation building.

Now you know why this year's World Economy Forum, after strict sieving by an expert committee, only invites a Malaysian online media journalist to sit on the newly-created International Media Council (IMC).

Yes, it's Steven Gan who will speak alongside such greats as New York Times Publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr, Washington Post’s Bob Woodward of Watergate fame, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and Google CEO, Eric Schmidt.

The opinion space, and the delivery system for its message, have changed. Don't hit the 'Active Denial' button, will you?