Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Are you sure about
that? Sure, the MCMC can use its bully tactics on local enterprises.
Just last year, a group of veteran media professionals issued a
statement calling for the MCMC to stop acting like big brother and block news sites.
“We
absolutely cannot accept any attempts to use government agencies like
the MCMC to question, censor, or block portals and online news content.
“The
current government is chosen on the basis of its promise to enable the
free flow of information and to guarantee freedom of the press.
Complaints from media practitioners that their websites are being
blocked are on the rise; this is an unhealthy trend that must be stopped
immediately.”
What would happen if the state decides to shut down
social media platforms that government agencies rely on to transmit
information to citizens?
What would happen to local businesses that rely on these platforms to generate business and communicate with their customers?
What
would happen to state security services that rely on these platforms to
warn citizens of possible danger or state rescue services that rely on
these platforms to communicate with citizens in danger relief areas?
Facebook
and WhatsApp go off for a couple of hours and the whole country is
plunged into some sort of existential crisis, and the government really
thinks that it could shut down these platforms and there would be no
blowback from the citizenry, but more importantly, how it would affect
essential services from healthcare to security?
All about control
What
the government hopes to do with this licensing scheme is to attempt to
regulate the flow of information in this country. Why? Because the state
understands that the opposition has a far better grasp of social media
tactics than it does.
What
PN has demonstrated, for instance, with its use of social media
influencers and viral memes mocking the government is that they can sway
voters, especially young voters.
The Straits Times under the headline “Social media censorship in Malaysia surges during PM Anwar’s first year in power” highlighted this exact issue.
“Political
content on TikTok is dominated by the opposition alliance Perikatan
Nasional and critics have accused the government of silencing dissent by
targeting content on the popular video-sharing platform.
“PN’s
success on TikTok was widely credited for the unexpected gains it made
at the 2022 general election, with both PAS and Bersatu more than
doubling their seat haul from four years earlier.”
Let me be very
clear. Social media companies are not the victims here. Indeed,
revelations by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen argued that
Facebook prioritises profits over safety.
Her opening remarks before the US Senate are a good indication of how social media platforms operate.
“I’m here today because I believe Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy.
“These
problems are solvable. A safer, free-speech-respecting, more enjoyable
social media is possible. But there is one thing that I hope everyone
takes away from these disclosures, it is that Facebook can change but is
clearly not going to do so on its own.”
However,
this is a separate issue from what is going on here. If Malaysia really
wants to have a discussion with Facebook about its algorithms and how
hate speech and elements detrimental to a secular democracy are in
danger because of the corporate practices of Meta, then, by all means,
have that discussion with Mark Zuckerberg.
But this is really not about defending secular democracy, is it?
Licensing won’t curb cybercrimes
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching
as reported in the press said: “…that the measure is essential to curb
the rising cases of cybercrimes, particularly sexual crimes against
children and online fraud in Malaysia, which have become increasingly
alarming.”
I submit there are more than enough laws and personnel
to handle such issues if (and this is a big if) these laws and personnel
were not used by the government to clamp down on every person or
organisation which it views as a threat to their political survival.
As reported in the Straits Times
piece above, “According to sources involved in social media in the
public and private sector, these demands for restrictions are continuing
to grow in 2024, with the authorities dedicating personnel to trawl
platforms for offensive content. ‘A vast majority are political in
nature. Over 90 percent possibly,’ said a person involved in the content
restriction process.”
Furthermore, when it comes to the issues highlighted, there is no evidence that any such licence would reduce such activities
What
reduces such activities is good, old-fashioned police tradecraft, which
means laws and personnel have to work diligently with these social
media platforms to curb activities and this involves a sustained working
relationship with these platforms.
It
also means engagement with the public but, more importantly, training
personnel in the latest methods to curb such criminal activities, which
would mean of course close relationships with state security personnel
from other countries and learning from them how they deal with such
activities.
Ultimately, what the Madani regime is doing is
building more dictatorial foundations for the theocratic state to
further build on.
To be honest, I don’t think even PN would have
come up with such a gambit because they understand that there are enough
dictatorial tools in the box to handle dissent.
This is another way the Madani state shoots itself in the foot.
