Bloggers advised not to break laws

For example, in Malaysia on Sept 12, 2008, prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) was arrested for posting anti-government comments on his blog, Malaysia Today. He was held under the Internal Security Act. RPK was not new to controversies, as he had courted the government's ire in previous incendiary blog posts. The Malaysia Today was blocked by authorities a day before his arrest.

By Azaraimy HH, Borneo Bulletin

The area of Internet law in Brunei Darussalam is relatively new and untested in the courts, but law counsels urged the public to be cautious and know the law when posting materials on their blogs to avoid prosecution for civil or criminal lawsuits either for copyright violation, defamation or grimmer charges under the Sedition Act.

Members of the public - in particular, bloggers - were reminded of this during a public talk yesterday organised by the Attorney General Chambers (AGC), which was handled by law counsels Ahmad Jefri Rahman and Hjh Rahayu Dato Hj Abd Razak.

For example, according to the lawyers, only if the story is true and in the public interest would a blogger not be liable for defamation whether or not they put it up on their blog. Furthermore, even if it were true, a person is having an affair with a housemaid for example, which is not necessarily in the public interest to know, a person would still be liable for defamation.

Bloggers were also told not to steal materials without consent from their rightful owners for their own benefit, which is a copyright violation, and they must be very careful when posting up public photos of other people in their blogs. In a nutshell, bloggers were told not to defame or spread malicious falsehoods, not to negligently communicate, not to breach their contracts, not to steal and not to commit crimes.

Laws that impact bloggers' activities in Brunei include the Broadcasting Act, Electronic Transaction Act, Defamation Act, Sedition Act and the Copyright Order 1999, thus bloggers were advised to learn these laws.

The AGC organised this interesting public talk, followed by an equally exciting Q&A session, entitled "A Blogger's Rights and Responsibilities & Other Legal Issues on the Use of Social Media in Brunei Darussalam".

The event was handled by the two aforementioned senior counsel members, taking place at the Law and Courts Building. Among those in the big audience were popular local blog site runners, including Rano Adidas and Kurapak.

During the talk, Ahmad Jefri Rahman said that there have been a growing number of people who blog in the country. According to simpur.net.com, the Bruneians Blog Directory amazingly grows five blogs every day.

He said that web 2.0 technology has enabled bloggers to incorporate such things like a public comments section, and bloggers must be careful because they are liable to what the public write or put on their blogs.

The line of people in the publication chain who can be prosecuted is extensive, which will in effect include the author, editor, publisher and printer (notwithstanding libraries, newsagents, booksellers and retailers, wholesalers etc). They are subject to different levels of liability. Therefore, care must be taken in every turn when blogging.

Ahmad Jefri Rahman presented several cases of past lawsuits inflicted upon bloggers in other countries to reinforce understanding for the audience on what constitutes defamation, copyright violations and even sedition acts.

For example, in Malaysia on Sept 12, 2008, prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) was arrested for posting anti-government comments on his blog, Malaysia Today. He was held under the Internal Security Act. RPK was not new to controversies, as he had courted the government's ire in previous incendiary blog posts. The Malaysia Today was blocked by authorities a day before his arrest.

On March 3, 2005, a graduate student at the University of Illinois criticised then chairman of government organisation A*Star in Singapore with posts on his blog. The subject of the blog threatened legal action. After a failed attempt at an apology on April 26 that same year, which was dismissed as insincere and unreserved, a second apology on May 8, 2005 was accepted.

In Singapore, British colonial law helped the government to fight a communist insurgency and prosecute three ethnic Chinese accused of writing racist remarks about ethnic Malays.

This year, Malaysian authorities have also moved in to tackle the problems of online abuse. The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have identified 13 Internet crimes that the Attorney General's Chambers can prosecute. The cases cover a range of offences provided under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, such as abuse of religion, pornography, phishing and sedition.

Furthermore, Hjh Rahayu Dato Hj Abd Razak explained that Section 10 of the Electronic Transaction Act confers immunity from civil and criminal liabilities to network service providers in respect of third-party materials to which they merely provide access.

However, this immunity is not available to content hosts or content providers. Ahmad Jefri Rahman said bloggers are definitely content providers and blogs are content hosts, thus both do not have the luxury of that immunity. He advised bloggers to pay particular attention to the Sedition Act, as this is a very serious offence.

For example, under the Sedition Act (Cap 24), a seditious intention is that to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam or the government; to excite the country's inhabitants to attempt to procure the alteration, otherwise than by lawful means, of any other matter in Brunei as by law established; to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the administration of justice in the Sultanate; to raise discontent or disaffection amongst the local inhabitants, to promote feeling of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population, to directly or indirectly lower or adversely affect, or bring into derogation, the rights, status, position, discretion, powers, privileges, sovereignty or prerogatives of His Majesty, successors, consorts, or other members of the royal family.

AGC stated that this talk was held as part of their outreach programme that continuously aims to raise public awareness on various legal issues touching on public interest as well as other topics of current concern.

For this particular talk, it was organised in the light of the nation's growing number of bloggers, with the purpose to educate them on their rights as well as responsibilities, and ensuring that they are well aware of the legal repercussions whenever content is posted up on their websites.