Print Nationalism, Censorship, and Nation-Building in Malaysia (1962–2024)

Abstract

This article focuses on how publishing regulation, censorship, and language policy shaped the ideological project of nation-building in Malaysia from 1962 to 2024. While censorship is often described only as a mechanism of repression, the analysis presented here demonstrates that in the Malaysian context it also functioned as a productive force that actively constructed national identity. Drawing on archival and statutory documents, media reports, and professional testimonies, the article shows how censorship operated simultaneously as a structural instrument of control and as a cultural practice of identity formation. The findings show that censorship in Malaysia was deeply embedded in postcolonial state-building. It silenced dissent and minority voices, reinforced the dominance of Malay as the national language, and promoted selective histories and moral frameworks. At the same time, censorship generated acts of contestation, with public protests, legal challenges, and professional negotiations shaping its trajectory. The article concludes that censorship in Malaysia functioned as both restriction and production: a tool of state power and a mechanism for constructing the imagined community of the nation.