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Concept
Sedition Act 1948
Summary
The Sedition Act 1948 (Akta Hasutan 1948) in Malaysia is a law prohibiting discourse deemed as seditious. The act was originally enacted by the colonial authorities of British Malaya in 1948 to contain the local communist insurgence. The act criminalises speech with "seditious tendency", including that which would "bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against" the government or engender "feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races". The meaning of "seditious tendency" is defined in section 3 of the Sedition Act 1948 and in substance it is similar to the English common law definition of sedition, with modifications to suit local circumstances. The Malaysian definition includes the questioning of certain portions of the Constitution of Malaysia, namely those pertaining to the Malaysian social contract, such as Article 153, which deals with special rights for the bumiputra (Malays and other indigenous peoples, who comprise over half the Malaysian population).
The Sedition Act 1948, in its current form (4 June 2015), consists of 11 sections and no schedule (including 6 amendments), without separate Part.
Section 1: Short title
Section 2: Interpretation
Section 3: Seditious tendency
Section 4: Offences
Section 5: Legal proceedings
Section 5A: Power of court to prevent person from leaving Malaysia
Section 6: Evidence
Section 6A: Non-application of sections 173A, 293 and 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code
Section 7: Innocent receiver of seditious publication
Section 8: Issue of search warrant
Section 9: Suspension of newspaper containing seditious matter
Section 10: Power of court to prohibit circulation of seditious publications
Section 10A: Special power to issue order regarding seditious publications by electronic means
Section 11: Arrest without warrant
The law was introduced by the British in 1948, the same year that the autonomous Federation of Malaya came into being, with the intent of curbing opposition to colonial rule.
Official source
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