Sexing the Internet
75
“ gay and lesbian ” was removed and replaced with the company ’ s overriding right to
decide what falls under the “ adult ” category. Internet service providers (ISPs) also
appear to act as moral guardians by blocking access to sites with sexual content, such
as pornography-sharing sites like YouPorn
67 and RedTube,
68 as well as GutterUncensored,
69 a site that solicits and publishes private videos and images that are
sexual in nature, including those of local celebrities and politicians. These blockings
have remained almost unnoticed beyond the sites ’ users, who share advice on how to
circumvent them.
70 The augmented censorship role of the private sector, along with
the limited redress that ordinary users have, creates a power imbalance that is strangely
reminiscent of the power imbalance between the traditional mass media and their
audience. How the ISPs ’ censorship role in the area of sexuality relates to the various
stakes of the state in this regard remains to be seen.
As a last example, cases surrounding the Malaysian national identity card MyKad
offer interesting insights into how programming code has been used to discipline citizens and how the data constituting gender, race, and religion are assigned and controlled through laws, culture, and norms in order to police sexualities and desires. The
MyKad contains personal data (name, date of birth, address, race, and religion), photo
identifi cation, and a biometric fi ngerprint. It is required for any formal transaction,
and every Malaysian is obligated to carry it.
71 As a result, the MyKad potentially
enables the government to comprehensively place individuals under surveillance. But,
in addition, the card is the digital artifact that defi nes and produces, and in fact
attempts to “ freeze, ” the Malaysian citizen-subject in socially acceptable positions.
This fact is evident in several cases of Malaysian citizens attempting to get the data
in their MyKads changed, notably after conversions from Islam or after sex-reassignment surgery. In all cases, the individual struggles over self-defi nition and citizenship
rights became a symbolic site for the struggle over what constitutes the nation and its
internal social hierarchy and order, as it is coded through race, religion, and appropriate heterosexual contracts between citizens.
72
Conclusion
In our Malaysian case study, we have illustrated how recent, publicly available information about the development of the Internet and its regulation at various levels and
through various means acquires a fuller meaning when analyzed in a gender-sensitive
framework and with attention to gender indicators for this country. The overall framework we have proposed for our interpretation posits that the maintenance of the body
politic within a nation requires the disciplining of women and men along specifi c heterosexual and gender lines, interarticulated with other social hierarchies. The public
sphere and its mass media, including the Internet, have constituted a vital area in which
this disciplining is negotiated, particularly around notions of sexuality and morality.
75
“ gay and lesbian ” was removed and replaced with the company ’ s overriding right to
decide what falls under the “ adult ” category. Internet service providers (ISPs) also
appear to act as moral guardians by blocking access to sites with sexual content, such
as pornography-sharing sites like YouPorn
67 and RedTube,
68 as well as GutterUncensored,
69 a site that solicits and publishes private videos and images that are
sexual in nature, including those of local celebrities and politicians. These blockings
have remained almost unnoticed beyond the sites ’ users, who share advice on how to
circumvent them.
70 The augmented censorship role of the private sector, along with
the limited redress that ordinary users have, creates a power imbalance that is strangely
reminiscent of the power imbalance between the traditional mass media and their
audience. How the ISPs ’ censorship role in the area of sexuality relates to the various
stakes of the state in this regard remains to be seen.
As a last example, cases surrounding the Malaysian national identity card MyKad
offer interesting insights into how programming code has been used to discipline citizens and how the data constituting gender, race, and religion are assigned and controlled through laws, culture, and norms in order to police sexualities and desires. The
MyKad contains personal data (name, date of birth, address, race, and religion), photo
identifi cation, and a biometric fi ngerprint. It is required for any formal transaction,
and every Malaysian is obligated to carry it.
71 As a result, the MyKad potentially
enables the government to comprehensively place individuals under surveillance. But,
in addition, the card is the digital artifact that defi nes and produces, and in fact
attempts to “ freeze, ” the Malaysian citizen-subject in socially acceptable positions.
This fact is evident in several cases of Malaysian citizens attempting to get the data
in their MyKads changed, notably after conversions from Islam or after sex-reassignment surgery. In all cases, the individual struggles over self-defi nition and citizenship
rights became a symbolic site for the struggle over what constitutes the nation and its
internal social hierarchy and order, as it is coded through race, religion, and appropriate heterosexual contracts between citizens.
72
Conclusion
In our Malaysian case study, we have illustrated how recent, publicly available information about the development of the Internet and its regulation at various levels and
through various means acquires a fuller meaning when analyzed in a gender-sensitive
framework and with attention to gender indicators for this country. The overall framework we have proposed for our interpretation posits that the maintenance of the body
politic within a nation requires the disciplining of women and men along specifi c heterosexual and gender lines, interarticulated with other social hierarchies. The public
sphere and its mass media, including the Internet, have constituted a vital area in which
this disciplining is negotiated, particularly around notions of sexuality and morality.