"Researchers at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia found that the freedom existed in cyber space was used extensively by bloggers to channel political information not normally found in the mainstream media."
In Malaysia, any opinion on the political issue might just get you into trouble since you might be seen as interrupting the harmonious environment of a multicultural country. Malaysian's politics had always been link to the ethnicity issue where each ethnic want to protect their culture. Hence, the public group discussion on politic had always been forbidden. Besides, after 55 years of independence and being under the rule of one party, opponent parties are evolving and trying to take over. Dissatisfaction among the people can be seen from the existence of group such as "BERSIH" and "HINDRAF".
The creation of blog provides a stage for the mass to express their opinion and suggestion freely. Blogger can create a blog using untrue information and write whatever they wish to. "Anonymity gives you the freedom to speak freely.... People say things in anonymous blogs they would never dare say in the
offline world", (Ringmar, 2007, pg. 28). Although some of your family members or friends might know who you are, as long as you do not expose too many private information, you will stay anonymous among the online community. In Malaysia, with the restriction for public discussion on sensitive issues such as religion, cultural, and national language, blog comes in handy when people wishes to express their opinion about these topics.
It is certainly possible for a government or a particular sneaky employer to crack a nom de blog … sign up for blogging accounts and email services that are free … The IP address of the computer you’re using when blogging can also be traced. This is a reason to always blog from public computers in libraries or internet cafes. (Ringmar, 2007, pg. 29)
If someone worried about being sued or punished for posting certain facts or true information, they can just hide by practicing the above methods.
However, the ultimate freedom might also be used for spreading rumors and fake information. Hence, it is up to the readers to evaluate whether they should believe the information they see online in blogs.
Ringmar, E. (2007). A blogger’s manifesto: free speech and censorship in a digital world.
New York: Anthem Press.
Seseorang boleh mempengaruhi orang lain melalui blog untuk menyokong pihak yang terlibat dalam sesebuah parti politik kerana biasanya tulisan yang ditulis dalam sesuatu blog tidak disiarkan dalam media arus perdana. Di samping itu, sesuatu perkara yang disiarkan dalam sesebuah blog tidak akan dikenakan hukuman seperti ditahan di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri atau ISA kerana akta ini sudah dimansuhkan menyebabkan rakyat bebas bersuara tanpa rasa takut dengan tindakan yang bakal dikenakan.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, blogger had a big influence in society nowadyas especially in political dimension. Blogger may write and speak whatever they think as long as they do not write something which is 'sensitive' to Malaysia law. Through blogging, malaysian may access easily to any political information. On the other words, politician may not escape from monitoring of social media or new media. Through blogging, people with a click of button such as blog, they can get any latest information especially political in their lives. As Meraz (2007) stated that, internet access such as blog as a political information sources. Thus, malaysian may receive unlimited and various political information through cyber space.
ReplyDeleteReference
Meraz, S. M. (2007). The networked political blogosphere and mass media: Understanding How Agendas are Formed, Framed, and Transferred in the Emerging new Media Environment. Austin: The Universiti of Texas.
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ReplyDeleteAgreed that many of the politicians or societies used blogs to express they opinions or thought freely when they could not speak out the truth on the real world.This maybe be due to the effect after their expression of ideas or thoughts. There are many regulations set by governments against media and also media users, one of it would be the defamation laws.
ReplyDeleteA popular tool for silencing critics in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and China, defamation laws and other form of civil and criminal liability have begun to be applied to compel independent news sources, bloggers, and other to remove or retract online content. (Deibert,2008:p.159)
It is best to have self regulation while blogging and ways to prevent themselves from getting into any laws detentions. Since mainstream media did not publish most of the news or information about the truth, blogs are used to publish truth, although there are also a risks of not getting accurate information since many of the bloggers are anonymous. Readers or viewers should have self evaluation upon information they get.
Deibert. R. (2008). Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. Cambridge : MT Press.
Media merupakan satu alat yang digunakan oleh rakyat bagi mendapatkan segala maklumat di dalam dan luar negara. Media juga di gunakan oleh pemerintah untuk menyampaikan dasar dan ideologi mereka. Media perdana sepatutnya mempunyai kebebasan untuk menyampaikan apa sahaja perkara yang memberi manfaat kepada rakyat.
ReplyDeleteNamun malangnya di negara kita media arus perdana telah dikawal ketat oleh pihak kerajaan bagi kepentingan diri mereka. Menurut Tan dan Zawawi Ibrahim(2008:12) kebebasan mengeluarkan pendapat dan berkomunikasi dilihat sebagai salah satu perkara yang penting bagi mewujudkan kesedaran kepada rakyat bagi menghadapi kerajaan yang bersifat tidak liberal.
Maka wujudlah media alternatif seperti blog-blog yang digunakan sebagai wadah pengganti bagi menyebarkan sebarang maklumat yang tidak dipaparkan di media perdana. Oleh itu, orang ramai yang telah jemu dengan segala paparan yang dipaparkan oleh pihak kerajaan di media arus perdana akan bertukar arah kepada blog-blog yang ada contoh Harakah Daily, Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today dan banyak lagi.
Blog-blog ini dilihat telah mempengaruhi corak pemikiran rakyat dan seterusnya mempengaruhi mereka dalam berpolitik.
Tan Jun-E dan Zawawi Ibrahim. (2008). Blogging and Democratization in Malaysia A New Civil Society in the Making. Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre.