Compiled by C. ARUNO and BENJAMIN LEE
STATEMENTS made in good faith and based on facts would not be considered “offensive” under the new amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588), Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said.
In a Sin Chew Daily report, Teo explained the amendments aimed at resolving ambiguities in the Act’s Section 233, which pertains to communications deemed obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person.
She said Section 233 sparked debates on the term “offensive speech”, and the amendments added six additional points to define and clarify the term.
The term “offensive” would be revised to “grossly offensive”, raising the threshold for speech that falls under Section 233.
By setting a higher standard for what is considered “offensive”, she said the amendments would safeguard the rakyat’s right to free speech and prevent misuse of the law.
Clarifications on what is considered “obscene”, “indecent” and “false” would also be provided.
“If your content is based on art, information or science, it should not be deemed obscene or indecent,” she added.
It was reported that the Dewan Rakyat passed the Bill amending Section 233 on Dec 9, 2024.
> Driven by the ongoing youth unemployment in China, fresh graduates from top universities are now working as technicians in tobacco factories, reported China Press.
In a list of new employees released by China Tobacco, 123 new workers at its Ningbo and Hangzhou factories are graduates from Peking University, Fudan University, Hong Kong University and Sydney University.
At Jinan, out of 95 workers, three hold PhDs.
A worker at the Hubei plant said filling the stomach was more important than career ambitions.
China produces millions of graduates, but the faltering economy is not able to provide enough jobs. Youth unemployment reached 18.8% in August 2024.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
