Malaysia

2011

  
Prime Minister Najib Razak promises legal reforms. (Reuters)

CPJ welcomes Malaysian reform vow

Bangkok, September 16, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s vow to abolish the Printing Presses and Publishing Act, and urges his administration to follow through with additional press freedom-related reforms.On Thursday, during an Independence Day national address, Najib vowed to dismantle two harsh security-related laws–the Internal Security Act and the…

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Zunar displays a copy of his previously banned cartoons. (AP)

Press freedom heroes in Southeast Asia

Three Southeast Asian journalists–Cambodia’s Hang Chakra, Malaysia’s Zulkiflee Anwar Ul Haque, or Zunar, and Thailand’s Chiranuch Premchaiporn–were among the 48 awardees of the Hellman/Hammett grant, given to writers targeted with political persecution, who were recognized today by Human Rights Watch for their commitment to press freedom.

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Malaysian cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd is the 35th journalist killed in direct relation to his work in Somalia. (Bernama)

AU must act after journalist is killed in Somalia

New York, September 5, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the African Union to ensure the safety of civilians operating in Somalia after witnesses reported that AU forces fired on a Malaysian humanitarian convoy in Mogadishu on Friday, killing one journalist and injuring another. Calling the shootings “deeply regrettable,” the African Union Mission in…

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Novaya Gazeta, a leading Russian independent news outlet, has been under cyber-attack.

Cyber-attacks on press up in number, down in cost

The last two weeks have seen a spate of denial-of-service (DOS) attacks against news sites, coordinated attempts to overwhelm outlets with fake incoming data so the sites cannot respond to legitimate users.

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Ahead of election, cyber-attacks cripple online media

Bangkok, April 19, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by cyber-attacks against three news and commentary sites that preceded Saturday’s important election in Malaysia’s Sarawak state, on the island of Borneo. The country’s main news portal Malaysiakini,  Sarawak Report, and the Malay and English versions of the opposition Harakahdaily website all reported similar attacks.…

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The Malaysian power company took this blog seriously.

Malaysia court gets joke, drops case against blogger

In September 2010 we posted an alert about criminal charges being brought against Malaysian blogger Irwan Abdul Rahman. He was accused of “intent to hurt” because of a March 2010 satirical entry on his blog, nose4news, that made fun of Malaysia’s state-run power company Tenaga (TNB). The charges were brought by the Malaysian Communications and…

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2011