Parsing the Power of “New Media” in Malaysia

Abstract

While “new media” have substantially altered the landscape for information dissemination and social mobilisation, these media are neither all alike in their ideological leanings or intentions, nor independently capable of identity transformation and mobilisation. The paper explores these new media in the context of Malaysia since the late 1990s. It differentiates among news sites and organisational websites, which transmit (often previously proscribed) information to domestic and foreign audiences, with potentially significant effects on “civicness” and mobilisation; blogs, which tend to be primarily personalised, monological and often unfiltered; and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which have eroded the anonymity of online interaction but represent the apex of self-selected communities. “Old media” still populate this landscape as well, from newspapers and other media sources, to public lectures, to leaflets and other ad hoc publications. Even apart from common caveats as to who has access, criteria for evaluation of these new and old media as tools for political change must vary, including differing degrees of information-provision and edification, interest articulation and aggregation, and transformation of collective identities so as to enable new patterns of mobilisation for collective action.

Key Words:

• Malaysia
• mobilisation
• identity
• media
• internet

Notes

1. More of Andrew Chadwick’s work can be found at: http://www.andrewchadwick.com.

2. See Cerulo (1997, 397–399) for a trenchant survey of these identity issues or DiMaggio et al. (2001) on the sociology of the internet more broadly.

3. Also important are communication tools, such as text messaging, or SMS, but like telephone calls and faxes, these are more static and real-world conduits than most of the online media discussed here.

4. On the other hand, in a bizarre 2007 case, “Namewee,” a Malaysian student in Taiwan, nearly lost his citizenship after parodying Malaysia’s national anthem on YouTube (see Malaysiakini, August 23, 2007).

5. ICT lost its licence to perform in Kuala Lumpur briefly in 2003; although after public outcry, the ban was soon lifted, the city introduced new guidelines for censorship of scripts (Khoo, Tikamdas, and Wong 2003).

6. From March-April 2010, the rate of increase in Facebook users in the USA was 0.5%; in Malaysia, it was 13%, or an astounding 364% from the preceding year (Linnarz 2010, 9).

7. Wang (2001, 80–83) offers a detailed overview of these legal constraints, the most targeted of which are the Printing Presses & Publications Act (PPPA) of 1984 for print media and the Broadcasting Act of 1988 for television. Beyond just laws (and “toning-down” content to stay clear of these), patterns of ownership and control play a role, as well; the mainstream media are closely fettered to BN parties. See Mustafa (2005, 30–31) and Zaharom (2002) for details on the concentration of ownership. International media have historically been more openly critical, but were slapped down particularly aggressively amid the 1997 financial crisis and attendant political unrest (Rodan 2005, 142–146, 160–162).

8. Rodan (2005, 170) notes that the raid seemed targeted also to jeopardise Malaysiakini’s commercial viability, not just by loss of time and equipment (two of the servers were returned, but only after two months and threats of legal action), but by compromising its ability to operate consistently and raising fears among subscribers (then numbering around 3,000) about confidentiality.

9. Among opposition parties, the DAP led the way in the mid-1990s, but the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) was not far behind. However, BN partner MCA launched its website in 1997, a year before PAS, followed by the Malaysian Indian Congress in 2000 and UMNO in 2001. Moreover, while opposition parties have sustained a strong effort, well-resourced BN parties, in fact, have an edge in online communication, website design, and IT-based content delivery – albeit leaving interactive features largely to leaders’ blogs (Rosyidah 2010).