KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- Users of social media such as Facebook
and Twitter can deny being responsible for a malicious Internet publication by
providing evidence against it, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister''s
Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong today.
He said Section 114A of the Evidence Act (Amended) 1950 on presumption
of fact, allowed the court in an Internet publication hearing to make an
inference of the truth of a fact other than facts judicially acknowledged.
"For instance, an unidentified person steals the password of a Facebook or
Twitter account owner and publish malicious words against a respected member of
the community to tarnish the latter''s image.
"At the time of publication, the Facebook or Twitter account owner might
have misplaced his laptop, but he can use the evidence he has, to prove he was
not the person who made the posting," he said.
Liew was replying to Senator Khoo Soo Seang who had asked how the Evidence
Act (Amended) 1950 functioned in relation to social media and whether the
sharing of news through them rendered the users liable under the Act.
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SENATE-FACEBOOK 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR
Liew said if the password of a Facebook or Twitter account owner had been
hacked, he would not be held liable for any publication of information by the
hacker, which could be adduced as evidence to counter the presumption of fact.
In regard to news sharing through such media, he said a Facebook or Twitter
user would not be held liable for someone else''s comment sent to his account, as
this was not provided for under Section 114A.
"If the Facebook or Twitter user publishes subversive articles and incite
people to overthrow the government by violence, then he will be held liable."
Liew stressed that social media users should have the moral obligation to
restrict or censor news that had elements of violence or brutality from being
shared or re-published.
To a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar, Liew said
the government had not yet obtained the statistics on the number of Facebook or
Twitter users detained under the Act for publishing malicious or
racially-sensitive news.
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CS KHY ELM