Sonia Randhawa | CIJ: Hurting someone’s feelings is not a crime
The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is concerned that the courts sentenced Chow Mun Fai to the maximum jail sentence under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
According to reports, the Facebook user had pleaded guilty to making disparaging remarks about Islam through an offensive Hari Raya greeting.
Chow's remarks on Facebook were undoubtedly crass and insensitive, and constitute a crime under Section 233.
However, the breadth of Section 233 makes it an offence to post offensive content with the intention to "annoy" another person.
This makes any possible crime under Section 233 unspecific and arbitrary. Whether or not a person has been annoyed is extremely subjective.
Full story: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/274428
