Internet users and organizations involved in Internet activity in Vietnam are legally
responsible for the content they create, upload, store, and transmit on the Internet. 62
Bloggers are additionally responsible for ensuring that even hyperlinks do not contain
illegal content. 63 However, Vietnam does offer a ‘‘safe harbor’’ of sorts for organizations and individuals who transmit or temporarily or automatically store information
created by others. Third-party hosts and providers are generally not responsible for this
content unless they initiate the transmission, choose recipients for the information, or
select or modify the contents of transmitted information. 64 However, they are
expressly responsible for taking ‘‘necessary measures’’ to stop the illegal access to or
illegal deletion of information upon government request. 65 All online social services
providers, including blog service providers, must be prepared to give ad hoc as well as
formal, biannual reports on their services, including data on blogs that violate termsof-service rules. 66
Singapore, whose political elite have a long history of pursuing their opponents and
critics with costly and frequent defamation suits, strengthened its penal code with
amendments (effective in 2008) to include crimes committed by electronic means. 67
For example, abetting a crime now includes acts done outside of Singapore, as long as
the crime was committed in Singapore. 68 In May 2008, blogger Gopalan Nair, a U.S.
citizen living in Fremont, California, had returned to Singapore to support Dr. Chee
Soon Juan in defamation proceedings. 69 On May 29, Nair posted his observations of
the trial and called High Court judge Belinda Ang a ‘‘stooge’’ who was ‘‘prostituting
herself’’ as an employee of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, Mentor
Minister Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. 70 Nair was also accused of insulting another
judge in an e-mail from 2006, and ultimately convicted of ‘‘intentional insult or interruption to a public servant sitting in any stage of a judicial proceeding’’ 71 and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment on September 17, 2008. 72
Critics of Malaysia’s ruling party also continued to be targeted through the use of
existing punitive legal mechanisms, as reflected in the bevy of sedition, defamation,
and even national security charges levied against blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin for his
online writings. On April 25, 2008, Kamarudin had published an article on his influential political Web site, Malaysia Today, linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak
(sworn in as Prime Minister in April 2009) and his wife to the October 2006 murder of
a Mongolian translator. 73 Kamarudin was charged with sedition in May 2008 74 and
faces three criminal defamation charges in a related case. 75 From September 12 to
November 7, 2008, Kamarudin, who had been released on bail in May, was detained
under Malaysia’s notorious Internal Security Act of 1960 (ISA), which authorizes the
preventive detention of individuals for up to two years (renewable indefinitely) without trial or any judicial review. 76 Kamarudin was accused of creating a national security
threat by causing potential tension in Malaysia’s multiracial and multifaith society
through his online activities. 77
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Asia Overview
responsible for the content they create, upload, store, and transmit on the Internet. 62
Bloggers are additionally responsible for ensuring that even hyperlinks do not contain
illegal content. 63 However, Vietnam does offer a ‘‘safe harbor’’ of sorts for organizations and individuals who transmit or temporarily or automatically store information
created by others. Third-party hosts and providers are generally not responsible for this
content unless they initiate the transmission, choose recipients for the information, or
select or modify the contents of transmitted information. 64 However, they are
expressly responsible for taking ‘‘necessary measures’’ to stop the illegal access to or
illegal deletion of information upon government request. 65 All online social services
providers, including blog service providers, must be prepared to give ad hoc as well as
formal, biannual reports on their services, including data on blogs that violate termsof-service rules. 66
Singapore, whose political elite have a long history of pursuing their opponents and
critics with costly and frequent defamation suits, strengthened its penal code with
amendments (effective in 2008) to include crimes committed by electronic means. 67
For example, abetting a crime now includes acts done outside of Singapore, as long as
the crime was committed in Singapore. 68 In May 2008, blogger Gopalan Nair, a U.S.
citizen living in Fremont, California, had returned to Singapore to support Dr. Chee
Soon Juan in defamation proceedings. 69 On May 29, Nair posted his observations of
the trial and called High Court judge Belinda Ang a ‘‘stooge’’ who was ‘‘prostituting
herself’’ as an employee of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, Mentor
Minister Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. 70 Nair was also accused of insulting another
judge in an e-mail from 2006, and ultimately convicted of ‘‘intentional insult or interruption to a public servant sitting in any stage of a judicial proceeding’’ 71 and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment on September 17, 2008. 72
Critics of Malaysia’s ruling party also continued to be targeted through the use of
existing punitive legal mechanisms, as reflected in the bevy of sedition, defamation,
and even national security charges levied against blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin for his
online writings. On April 25, 2008, Kamarudin had published an article on his influential political Web site, Malaysia Today, linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak
(sworn in as Prime Minister in April 2009) and his wife to the October 2006 murder of
a Mongolian translator. 73 Kamarudin was charged with sedition in May 2008 74 and
faces three criminal defamation charges in a related case. 75 From September 12 to
November 7, 2008, Kamarudin, who had been released on bail in May, was detained
under Malaysia’s notorious Internal Security Act of 1960 (ISA), which authorizes the
preventive detention of individuals for up to two years (renewable indefinitely) without trial or any judicial review. 76 Kamarudin was accused of creating a national security
threat by causing potential tension in Malaysia’s multiracial and multifaith society
through his online activities. 77
416
Asia Overview