COMMENT | Social media licensing: Are we doing U-turn on reforms?

COMMENT | With the advent of the internet and social media, many Malaysians have every reason to breathe a sigh of relief. After all, for many years Malaysians were under the yoke of oppressive censorship via licensing instruments.

When BN was in power, Malaysians were subjected to a plethora of draconian laws aimed at controlling their basic freedom of speech and expression despite the fact such a fundamental freedom is duly embedded in the supreme law of the land - the Federal Constitution.

The control was normally done via a special scheme known as a licensing mechanism. Such a licensing scheme was, however, given a legal justification via a slew of draconian laws such as the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 (PPPA).

As a lawyer, I used to represent clients who were prosecuted...