Libel is libel

Whenever bloggers get sued for libel, the media (especially international media) goes into a frenzy while media watchers warn of a looming censorship of the Internet.

What gets lost in this hysteria is that libel is libel whether it's done in print, verbally or online.

So, the fact that someone is being sued over something he wrote in his blog is actually nothing unusual. Yes, blogs are a new medium but everyday laws apply to them just as they do to everything else.

The Internet does not operate in a vacuum. This is a a point emphasized by government Member of Parliament Markiman Kobiran.

True, bloggers need not apply for any kind of publishing license but laws pertaining to libel, sedition, the Internal Security Act and Official Secrets Act, all apply.

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Edwin Yapp

An engineer by training, Edwin first cut his teeth as a cellular radio frequency optimization engineer in one of Malaysia's largest telcos. After more than five years, he hung up his radio engineering boots to try his hand at technology reporting at The Star, Malaysia's leading English daily, where he won several awards for Best Online Technology reporting. He left to start his own editorial consultancy and is now a freelance journalist for several publications, including ZDNet Asia. A self-confessed gadget geek, Edwin hopes his blog contributions will stir up deeper discussions within the Malaysian technology scene.