World Human Rights Day: A Stark Reminder of the Erosion of Child Rights and Free Speech
My
fellow child rights activists and I usher in World Human Rights Day today, 10th
December 2024, with a heavy heart, as we watch new amendments being rushed
through Parliament this week which will
effectively erode the inroads that we have made in children’s protection and
freedom of expression.
The new laws being
proposed include a new Online Safety Bill, and various amendments to the Penal
Code and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The amendments to the Communications
and Multimedia Act 1998 were passed yesterday with a narrow majority (with only
59 MPs voting in favour).
These new laws:
(a) were rushed through the drafting process with no
consideration or accommodation given for the input and recommendations of child
rights experts and freedom of expression advocates;
(b) ostensibly aim to fight cyberbullying but fail to provide
any safeguards or discretionary measures to minimise the prosecution or
criminalisation of children under the proposed new crimes, and wholly fail to acknowledge
or recognise that most perpetrators of cyberbullying against children are also
children;
(c) were drafted without any research carried out (to our
knowledge) with children as respondents;
(d) fail to address or understand the root causes of
cyberbullying by children;
(e) fail to outline methods or means to allow for child
offenders to be diverted from the criminal justice system;
(f) wholly ignore the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s
General Comment No. 25 (2021) on Children’s Rights in Relation to the Digital
Environment, which emphasised that, when drafting laws relating to online
safety, States must:
(i) consider the effects of such laws on children and should
make every effort to create and use alternatives to a criminal justice response;
and
(ii) where children are engaged in bullying or other forms of
harmful online activity, States parties should pursue preventive, safeguarding
and restorative justice approaches whenever possible, and avoid the
criminalisation of children;
(g) allow for undue interference with
freedom of expression; and
(h) promote a predominantly punitive
response to a complex and nuanced social issue.
As
child advocates, my colleagues and I have strived to ensure that we were
consulted, have engaged with the Government and have submitted recommendations
and Memorandums which, whilst lauding the Government’s initiative to combat
cyberbullying and online scams, demanded that changes be made to protect not
only our children but also our collective rights to the freedom of expression.
We have attended meetings and Taklimat(s), been given extensions for the
submissions of our recommendations, been thanked for our submissions and
Memorandums – and finally been ignored wholly and entirely in the drafting of
these amendments.
As
Parliamentarians go in to vote on the amendments to the Penal Code, and the new
Online Safety Bill, I ask that you think about the children in your life who at
this very moment are online, and who will bear the very real risk of being
culpable of cyberbullying if these amendments go through.
If
arrested, many of our children will have no alternatives under these laws but
to be prosecuted through the legal system and face custodial sentences and
harsh monetary penalties.
I
ask that you consider the various forms of media and social media reporting
that have in the past 10 years enabled us to have nuanced and bipartisan views
– and understand that with these amendments and new laws, such freedom of
expression stands to be throttled, stifled and oppressed by whoever is in
power. I ask you to recognise the growing threats to our artists, writers, and
cartoonists, who will henceforth face greater opposition as they speak their
truth.
I
ask that you push and/or vote for these amendments to be withdrawn,
scrutinised, reviewed and amended to better protect the children of Malaysia
and our collective right to exercise freedom of expression.
Co-chairperson,
CRIB Foundation (Child Rights Innovation & Betterment Foundation)
Co-Founder, The
Talisman Project
The team from Muhendaran Sri worked on these amendments and came up with proposals that would not diminish the human rights of Malaysians whilst still effectively protecting children. These amendments were not taken into account by the drafters of the new laws.
Sri is the co-chairperson of CRIB Foundation & the co-founder of The Talisman Project, who are active members of the Online Safety & Advocacy Group, which submitted a two-part Memorandum to the Government on the proposed Online Safety Bill and amendments to the Penal Code. They are also part of the SOAC & ECWA Advocacy Group which has spoken up against the amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
photo (c) Malay Mail
This letter was published :
2. https://x.com/aliranmalaysia/status/1867086986210664842
Addendum: The Online Safety Bill was passed following a bloc vote in the Dewan Rakyat on 11.12.2024. A total of 77 MPs voted in favour of the Bill and 55 against, with 90 MPs absent during the vote: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/12/11/online-safety-bill-passes-in-dewan-rakyat-after-bloc-voting?fbclid=IwY2xjawIADBJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQXrOAVbUyuggPlGVknoIGiV3y49Rood1uVSIpFJD7IrAjcjZGp7FFktdA_aem_iKCcKJJJQ3vcFS_M1ABU6A
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