1 DEMOCRATISATION IN MALAYSIA: THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE 2008 GENERAL ELECTION 1 By Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani, University Utara Malaysia, Malaysia and Knocks Tapiwa Zengeni, University Utara Malaysia, Malaysia 2 Abstract The proliferation of social media such as blogging and online news portals has ramifications for national security, spanning future operating challenges of a traditional, irregular and disruptive nature. There is no doubt that the Internet is a conduit for alternative information and democratic values because it helps people to evade the intrusive force of censorship. It increases transparency by facilitating the flow of information about government. In the case of Malaysia during the 12 th general election in 2008, social media was definitely an important instrument in promoting democracy. It opens up the space for the Malaysian citizens to deliberate political issues and gave the opportunities for the opposition to utilize in influencing the election result. The government was under estimated the influence of social media to the Malaysian voters. With the policy of free cyberspace, the social media has huge potential to strengthen the democratization process and democracy in Malaysia. Keywords: Social Media, The Internet, Malaysia, The 2008 General Election, blogging, INTRODUCTION The term social media or ‘Web 2.0’ refers to a new ‘wave’ of Internet based applications. These internet applications enable greater interaction between user and application through user generated content (Komito and Bates, 2009). This content is varied, and includes photographs, video, text comments, forming a media rich mosaic. Sites such as Bebo, MySpace, and Facebook have developed, where individuals cannot only post a variety of different types of information on their own web sites, but can also link their 1 This paper was presented to the 18 th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in Adelaide, 5-8 July 2010. It has been peer reviewed via a double referee process and appears on the Conference Proceedings Website by the permission of the author who retains copyright. This paper may be downloaded for fair use under the Copyright Act (1954), its later amendments and other relevant legislation. 2 Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani, PhD is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the College of Law, Governments and International Studies, University Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia. Email: azizuddin@uum.edu.my . Knocks Tapiwa Zengeni is PhD student studying Politics at the College of Law, Governments and International Studies, University Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia. Email: ktzengeni@yahoo.co.uk