Freedom of speech has allowed us to express our thoughts in public spaces and online. However, does this mean there is no limits on what we can say?
Recently, a Malaysian lawyer, through his Instagram account Lawyer Boy, shared that a man in his 20s is now facing a lawsuit for his comments made online.
For context, the lawyer said 2 men were accused in this case, so he would name them accused 1 and accused 2.
The incident involved the first accused using an image of a local recruiting company without their consent for an unrelated post. The lawyer explained that the local recruiting company is a legitimate company that headhunts locals for foreign companies.
However, he later combined the image with another image related to job scam victims abroad and posted it on his social media account, with a caption that says, “Malaysians betray Malaysians by tricking them abroad. Do not fall for this company’s scam.”
As most of us are aware, job scams abroad have been a hot issue right now. Thus, the post by the man went circulated on social media like a hot cake.
Meanwhile, an online friend of the first accused, accused 2, shared the now-deleted post and gave his opinion on the matter, with a caption saying, “Those who betrayed Malaysians deserve to die.”
The Company was alerted
While the social media post goes viral online, little did they know that something huge was waiting for them.
The company involved decided to sue both the accused for defamation and demanded RM350,000 for indemnity purposes.
With this, the lawyer said there’s only one thing the accused 2 could do, which is to hire a lawyer to represent him in court but it will cost them around RM15,000.
According to the lawyer, the second accused was shocked that he can be guilty for a mere online post and comment.
“Guilty or not, that’s entirely the court’s decision. The company has sued both of you, and you have to defend yourself, or the company will win,” the lawyer said.
The lawyer then reminded Malaysians that although the Internet is a free world, this does not mean that we can do whatever we wish and not be responsible for it.
