Chapter 1 – Report of the Policy, Law and Complaints Group powers of the Court in determining an appropriate sentence in the event it does not think a custodial sentence is warranted. In essence, the amendment fetters the discretionary powers of the Court in sentencing, by mandating that the Court must impose the minimum sentence regardless of the circumstances of the case. (iv) Restriction of Movements Individuals charged under Section 4 of the said Act and released on bail are barred from leaving the country or obtaining travel documents under a new section 5B. This section in effect curtails the freedom of movement as enshrined in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is to be noted that any form of restrictive measures must conform to the principle of proportionality; “they must be appropriate to achieve their protective function; they must be the least intrusive instrument amongst those which might achieve the desired result; and they must be proportionate to the interest to be protected”.29 The restriction placed may affect the social and economic rights of individuals charged under this Act as it may hinder the individuals from pursuing objectives that may produce positive results for them. (v) Access to Information. Access to information in the new digital era is virtually unfettered and governments have no control over the dissemination of such information. Online journalism, in the form of blogs, forums, etc., has enjoyed a surge of popularity and provides platforms for individuals to state their opinions and express themselves. With an estimated 67 per cent of Malaysia’s population having access to the Internet,30 limitations placed under the Amendment Act may deny the rights of the majority of Malaysia’s population to express themselves and to receive information. The prohibition under Section 10(1A)(ii) on the person making or circulating the prohibited material from accessing any electronic device is unreasonable considering that in this age, most of our daily lives revolve around electronic devices. This restriction may impede an individual from pursuing his vocation, enjoying his right to work and enjoying the benefits of scientific progress and its applications.31 The amended section 10 and the new section 10A will have the effect of preventing access to information if the conditions under the respective sections are satisfied. Section 10A may be used by the Government to compel news portals to remove comments which may be deemed seditious 29 Human Rights Committee, General Comment 27, Freedom of movement (Art 12), U.N. Doc CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9 (1999), https://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/gencomm/hrcom27.htm 30 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2 31 Article 15(b) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 66 BOOK-ANR2016-01-latest.indb 66 08/04/2016 3:32 PM