I can’t access Medium in my country and this is why censorship sucks
You read that right. I can’t access Medium without using Google’s DNS, and that doesn’t work all the time. You must be wondering why (you may have heard about this already), and I have the same thought too.
Why can’t I browse Medium? Is Medium a (I’ll get to this later) porn-site? Is Medium a site where people come to discuss radical and harmful ideologies? I mean, all you do is post stories of just about anything, right?
Hmm.
Maybe someone big and bossy did not like that story?
Here’s a story of how a publishing platform got banned in my country, Malaysia.
The post that sparked the whole controversy
Sarawak Report is a journalism site that has its sights set on the Malaysian political scene, with a heavy emphasis on corruption and transparency among the government’s ranks.
On the 18th of January 2016, the Sarawak Report team posted an article on Medium containing information and leaks regarding the 1MDB fiasco, which was thoroughly documented by BBC in their coverage of the scandal over here as well as The Guardian if you are unaware of the case.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, a government agency responsible for regulating communications in the country issued a notice requesting for the removal of the article, citing the circulation of false and misleading content as the reason for their actions.
Medium requested for further clarification and evidence to the agency’s complaints, an effort which resulted in zero responses from the agency in question.
In a distasteful move, the government agency responded by blocking all connections to Medium the day after the notice was issued. The ban was widely covered by various major publications and was a huge talking point back in my home country.
For the first time since the whole scandal began, locals were starting to see the truth behind 1MDB. Various efforts were done by groups to force a response from the Malaysian government. From a nationwide rally to having a special coverage by the Wall Street Journal (ft. Leonardo DiCaprio), the public were eager to get a response from the tainted Malaysian government.
Yet, here we (the Malaysians) are today. Nothing solid has been released from the authorities. No evidence has been produced to counter the allegations. Now, my thoughts on this situation is glaringly obvious, but I’m not here to talk about that anymore. I am here to rant about one of the most infuriating things you that can happen to you in Malaysia, censorship.
Medium is still blocked as of today, the 23rd of February, 2017.
The state of censorship and media manipulation in Malaysia
The above picture is the page that appears when you access a website that is blocked in Malaysia.
As I said above, I will write about porn and this part of the story will detail that.
The UK introduced a bill to ban a wide range of websites depicting various sex acts last year, leading to widespread criticism from UK web users. However, in 2012 the Malaysian government introduced an act similar to this which took effect immediately.
As a result porn sites, government critics as well as anything that treads on Malaysian law was banned. The newly-introduced act allowed the Malaysian government to take action on users who are deemed to have been “guilty” of posting defamatory content online which meant that users on social media were also vulnerable to the ruling. Users who are “guilty” can only be proven otherwise if they have proof that they did not post the offending content.
This system which was biased towards the government was heavily criticised by the public, leading to a national Internet Blackout Day to protest against the censorship.
What this means to the Malaysian citizens
We can’t enjoy what you enjoy. The image below depicts the classifications for movie audiences in theatres nationwide.
The photo is self-explanatory, but it means jack shit. Deadpool was rated 18+ in this country, and I got two tickets to watch it with my SO. I went in with my hopes high while my SO was ovulating at the sight of Ryan Reynolds and his well sculpted physique. At the end of the movie, we left with shattered dreams and eggs as well as a huge middle finger to the joke of a film board.
Profanities and sexual acts were COMPLETELY cut from the movie despite it being rated 18+. We had to freaking hand out our identity cards to get a seat for the movie. And you’re telling me that I can’t watch two hotties make out at the age of 20? With the massive amount of curse words and suggestive depictions in Deadpool, we had to endure megatons of cuts and skips. It was like we were watching Dailymotion videos on a shitty 4Mbps line.
Concerts? Well, you can forget about that.
Here’s a list of artists who had their concerts cancelled in Malaysia at the 11th hour, and guess what? Your tickets are not refunded either.
- Gwen Stefani
- Beyonce
- Ke$ha (she was threatened with imprisonment if she went ahead with her show)
- and a whole list of other artists who were fined or allowed to perform with ridiculous requirements (Linkin Park not being able to wear shorts for instance)
And let’s not talk about television censorship. Show me a news network on TV in Malaysia that is not full of propaganda and bullshit and I’ll show you the keys to Tai Lopez’s Lamborghini.
End of rant
With that being said, it’s not that bad over here in Malaysia. We have great food, great places, great people and it’s cheap!
The government may have left a terrible reputation for us Malaysians with their incompetence in this scandal as well as other situations such as leading our currency’s exchange rate dwindling to an all time low. But, I am proud of my fellow people and I believe that we are heading towards a better future with the youth being aware of the issues surrounding our country.
I posted this story to let go of my thoughts as well as to have some opinions and discussion on this matter. I wish all of you a great day with your wives, families and whatever you are working on. Have a wonderful year ahead! :)
I work as a freelance copywriter and marketing/content strategist over at jujuservices.com. I’m looking forward to opportunities and I’m more than happy to have a discussion with you! You can visit my website or mail me at julianfssen@gmail.com for any inquiries. Thank you!
