Report lodged against Internet website

Report lodged against Internet website

PETALING JAYA: 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 on his views on Mahathir.

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 is irresponsible of Ooi to allow the posting on his website. We do not understand what motivated him to allow it.”

Gunasegaram had yesterday morning also written to Ooi demanding that he remove the threat from his website. The posting, which was there for over 24 hours, was subsequently removed.

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 the website that claims to be a champion of free speech saw it fit to allow someone to make that threat.”
(Source:malaysianbar.org.my)





Report lodged against internet website

The Sun

The Sun 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...(more)
(Source-Malaysia today net)



P Gunasegaram says his life is threatened

Remember 1979, during the influx of the Vietnamese Boat People into Malaysia? Dr Mahathir, then not yet the prime minister, was vilified by the international media for saying "Shoot them!" when what he really meant was "to fix the refugees' problem". There is an Internet archive on this.

Twenty-seven years later, the same episode has befallen a Screenshots reader, thus implicating this weblog.

theSun (August 4, Pg 2) reports that theSun and Nexnews Group Executive Editor P. Gunasegaram yesterday lodged a complaint against this weblog for allegedly "carrying a posting inciting people to do bodily harm to Gunasegaram over an article he wrote".
read the respond from Jeff 's screenshot here



Mr. Gunasegaram, please shoot me down now
(James Wong Wing- FREEDOM in SOLIDARITY)

As a public critic of some of Dr. Mahathir's policies and measures such as Operation Lalang and closure of newspapers in 1987-1988 (check this up with Kit Siang or his son) and his persecution of Anwar Ibrahim in 1998-2004 (check this up with Kak Wan), I really can' t remember there was a P. Gunasegaram in the camp of Tun's critics in the public domain.

But, after Tun is no more in power, P. Gunasegaram has suddenly - hey presto!- become one of the most vocal anti-Mahathir 'hero'. Well, I may be wrong in my recollection (and, unfortunately, I am unable to read Tamil newspapers). Prove me wrong and shoot me down then.

By the way, isn't it a great idea to secretly prepare 44 or 88 questions for Abdullah Ahmad Badawi just in case the wheel of fung sui turns the other way round (but it is only prudent to keep the questions secretly in bank's safe deposit box for the moment) ?




指读者留言“威胁”编辑,《太阳报》投报黄泉安部落格
(杨凯斌)

由于不满一名读者的留言“威胁”，《太阳报》执行编辑古纳西加兰(P.Gunasegaram)昨日向马来西亚通讯及多媒体内容论坛 (Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia)，投报著名部落客黄泉安的网站Screenshot。

通讯及多媒体内容论坛是一个在《1998年传播及多媒体法令》下设立的专门机构，负责监督通讯与网络内容，并处理投诉。

古纳是投报其中一则在黄泉安部落格上的读者留言，涉嫌煽动他人威胁其人身安全。

事情源自古纳在上星期三《太阳报》言论板上撰写了一篇批判马哈迪的文章“破除马哈迪所向无敌的谜思”(The Myth of Mahathir’s invincibility)，而黄泉安也在同日刊出这则评论并征求读者的意见。在数名读者的回应中，其中一名署名“Ilmran”的读者，建议“射掉” 批判马哈迪的古纳。

《太阳报》集团总编辑何启达指出，“这个网站是由部落客黄泉安主持，我们认为他必须为这一则留言“请一劳永逸射掉这个古纳西加兰”(Somebody, please shoot this Gunasegaram for good)负责。”

“虽然我们毫不畏惧与任何人进行辩论、讨论甚至挑战古纳西加兰所写的东西，实际上许多人已经这么做――但是肢体威胁是截然不同的东西，应被严正重视。”

他也认为，“黄泉安让有关留言存在其网站中是不负责任的。我们不清楚他允许这个留言存在的意图”。

《太阳报》也报导说古纳在昨日早上已经写信给黄泉安，要求他除掉这个留言。而这个存在24小时的留言，过后也已经被删除。

何启达也说，向通讯及多媒体内容论坛投诉的目的，是希望类似的网络留言将不会重复或出现在其他网站上。

他强调，“网络不是一个毫无法律管辖的疆界，人们不能为所欲为，网络仍受这个国家的法律管辖。”

“做为一个新闻机构，Nexnews（太阳报东主）支持言论自由及表达看法的自由，不过恫言伤害一个人是犯罪行为，不是言论自由。”

“实际上恐吓古纳的目的，是想要他闭嘴。那些珍惜言论自由的人士对一个自称支持言论自由的网站，竟允许任何人进行恐吓的行径，应感到厌倦。”

但是另一方面，黄泉安在其网站上也针对此事，联络有关的留言者以澄清他的言论。他们的澄清显示古纳西加兰与《太阳报》似乎反应过敏，小题大做。

Read the article "The Myth of Mahathir"s Invincibility" in my blog posted 3th Aug 2006.