Category: Malaysia ProFoEm

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A coalition of partners from EWMI’s Promoting Freedom of Expression in Malaysia (ProFoEm) and Securing a Safe and Open Information Ecosystem in Malaysia projects are serving as co-conveners, for the 2025 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC25). aking place from August 26-27 in Kuala Lumpur, the third edition of DRAPAC will bring together over 500 activists, policymakers, technologists, human rights defenders, researchers, funders, and members of allied movements. The goal of the assembly is to create a space where advocates and movements can gain the tools and connections needed to make lasting change, strengthen movements, and explore new frontiers in the digital rights landscape.

DRAPAC25’s theme is “Collective Digital Futures: Building Power, Resilience, and Imagination.” Within this broad theme, the conference will include programing along three tracks, including:

1. Shaping power, driving change: This track will focus on engaging governments, businesses, regional institutions, and global communities to influence policies, norms, and standards and advance strategies for accountability, access, and justice.
   
2. Strengthening movements, securing our future: This track is centered on the sustainability of the digital rights and accountability movement by exploring the tools, strategies, and support systems needed to enhance organizational security, capacity, and infrastructure while fostering solidarity and wellbeing.
   
3. Beyond boundaries, beyond limits: This track will focus on ways to expand the “frontier of digital rights” through new alliances, approaches, and unconventional strategies to drive systemic change. Sessions in this track are designed to “challenge assumptions, connect unexpected movements, and explore speculative ideas that push digital rights beyond traditional advocacy” to unlock new prospects for impact and innovation.

Throughout the event, a Human Rights Tech Fair will showcase privacy-respecting, secure, and open technologies addressing challenges faced by human rights defenders in the region, while pre- and post-event activities led by other human rights groups and civil society organizations will supplement and enhance the experience of DRAPAC25 attendees.

EWMI’s parters and DRAPAC25 co-conveners Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Sinar Project, Architects of Diversity (AOD) Malaysia, and the Initiative to Promote Tolerance and Prevent Violence (INITIATE.MY) look forward to hosting a successful and impactful convening in collaboration with Engage Media.

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SUARAM’s Meeting with Commissioners, Secretary, and Officers from the National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)

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(From left) Barbara Bernath (Former Secretary-General of Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)) with Sevan Doraisamy (Executive Director of SUARAM) and regional partners - Pornpen Khongkachonkiet (Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF)) and Emmanuel C. Amistad (Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP))

EWMI Promoting Freedom of Expression in Malaysia (ProFoEm) partner, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) — the preeminent human rights organization in Malaysia — released the 2024 Malaysia Human Rights Report on April 10, 2025. The report provides a broad assessment of the country’s human rights environment, highlighting persistent challenges in freedom of expression, assembly, and accountability within law enforcement. It notes that restrictive legislation — particularly the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act — continues to be used against journalists, activists, and individuals who express dissenting views online. According to the report, 2024 saw a five-year high in Sedition Act charges, alongside broader efforts to regulate online speech and media content through legal reforms and regulatory mechanisms. 

Beyond legal restrictions on speech, the report situates freedom of expression within a wider landscape of civil liberties concerns. Authorities continued to investigate or intervene in public demonstrations with arrests rising significantly in 2024 compared with previous years. The report also highlights the growing use of security laws such as the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA), alongside broader concerns about police conduct, custodial deaths, and limited transparency in accountability mechanisms. While some institutional reforms have been discussed, the authors conclude that meaningful progress will require stronger safeguards for civil liberties, clearer legal protections for activists and journalists, and more transparent oversight of law enforcement institutions.

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A new report from EWMI’s Promoting Freedom of Expression in Malaysia (ProFoEm) partner, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) highlights growing pressures on journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens expressing critical views in Malaysia. Released on December 14, 2024, the 2024 Freedom of Expression Report examines the state of free speech and civic space in Malaysia. The report finds growing pressures on journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens who express critical views. The report finds that restrictive laws—particularly the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998—continue to be widely used to investigate or prosecute speech. In 2024 alone, authorities invoked such laws 187 times in cases affecting expression, assembly, and public discourse. These legal tools, often framed as protecting public order or harmony, have increasingly been applied to political commentary, online speech, and sensitive topics involving race, religion, and governance.  

While the Malaysian government has pledged reforms to strengthen democratic freedoms, the report concludes that meaningful legal change has yet to materialize. Instead, enforcement practices and legislative amendments have continued to expand state powers over digital communication and public speech. The authors argue that protecting freedom of expression will require clearer legal safeguards, transparent policymaking, and reforms that align Malaysia’s laws with international human rights standards—ensuring that both offline and online spaces remain open for debate, criticism, and civic participation.