KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) has urged the government to act and use all means to prevent the escalation of hate speech as it posses a threat against peace, public order and security in the country.
MCPF senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said of late, the flame of hatred and anger is burning more profusely on sensitive issues together with the exploitation of various incidents which were originally irrelevant to ethnic and race.
Before this, he said the people were more careful with what they said, tweeted, or posted especially on sensitive issues.
“As a non-governmental and non-partisan organisation, MCPF wishes to assert that the government should act and seen to be acting on these sensitive issues on an urgent basis.
“Since the situation poses a real risk of causing unlawful activity or public disorder, it requires urgent action,” he said in a statement issued here today
At present, he said there is no specific legislation to regulate hate speech and offences in Malaysia although there are general provisions addressing certain elements of hate speech.
For example, he said Section 298A of the Penal Code states that it is a crime to incite disharmony, disunity and enmity on the grounds of religion. An amendment was later made to include “racial feelings” under the section.
He said Malaysia should emulate other countries that have introduced specific law to tackle such issues. Among them is the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 that is being enforced in the United Kingdom, which among others, makes it an offence to incite hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion.
“It is important to have specific legislation to properly and comprehensively deal with a subject matter as serious and complex as hate speech. The law must be unambiguous and its scope must be clearly spelt out,” he said.
He added that the law must also ensure that free speech is constructive while at the same time, it should acknowledge the minorities in terms of race, religion and also gender.
“The judiciary and the government need to recognise that hate speech plays a significant role not only in creating racial tension but detrimental to the stability and harmony of the nation.
”We must intervene on the aspect of prevention through strict legislation in order to accommodate the current diverse communities and ideologies,” he said.
While waiting for such law to be introduced, Lee said all parties must stop making expression that simply “has a tendency” to cause ill-will, hatred, disaffection or discontent.
Lee said as a social activist and an ex-politician, he had consistently expressed his concern about the inter-ethnic relation problems which could lead to disintegration of the nation.
“I have been consistent in my writings and in all humility I have always emphasised on the need to be cautious and address the problems and challenges related to race-based issues,” he said.