Public Relations Review 41 (2015) 311–314

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Public Relations Review

Research in Brief

Social media creating digital environmental publics:

Case of Lynas Malaysia
Kiranjit Kaur ∗
Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Internationally, strategic use of digital media has successfully united activists with voters
Received 31 July 2014 on a number of social issues. One such issue is the case of Lynas, an Australian rare earth
Received in revised form 9 December 2014 mining company, wanting to set up a refinery in Malaysia prompting Malaysian NGOs to
Accepted 9 December 2014
share, collaborate and communicate online with various stakeholders, international NGOs
and the public to ensure a slowdown on the operations of Lynas in Malaysia. This paper
Keywords: examines how anti-Lynas public sentiment was successfully created through social media
Digital communications
for an activist campaign.
Strategic communications
© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Activism
Social media
Lynas Malaysia

1. Introduction

Digital publics are created and united on issues by activists through the mobilization of people to participate in social
movements, which aim to bring about social changes, as well as influence public opinion and government policies. Increas-
ingly, exchange of information and opinions occurs in cyberspace, facilitated by issue experts promoting the desired
interaction for greater civic participation.

1.1. Social media in Malaysia

A previous study by the author showed that other than the large and multinational organizations, a number of Malaysian
corporations view information on social media as flippant and non-substantive in content (Chelluri & Kaur, 2012). Scepticism
exists because of not knowing the trustworthiness of who is at the other end of the social media communication chain,
whether on twitter, Facebook, or YouTube. In issues management, in contrast to non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
corporate use of the social media is more reactive – to respond to questions rather than as part of their communication
strategy as it is not seen to contribute to the bottom line of financial performance or shareholder value. Nevertheless, social
media is seen as a great leveller and a democratic force that has opened up a new realm for wider public participation
on social issues, especially in countries where traditional media is controlled by the ruling establishment. Among Asians,
Malaysians are recognized to be heavy users of Facebook, twitter, and other social media. Broadband penetration rate among

∗ Tel.: +60 123813145.

E-mail address: kkludher@gmail.com

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.12.005
0363-8111/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
312 K. Kaur / Public Relations Review 41 (2015) 311–314

the 29.82 million population is at 67.2 per 100 households. According to comScore,1 social networks account for one-third
of the time spent online by Malaysians, with Facebook scoring highest at 46.6 per cent.

1.2. Activism

Tkalac and Pavicic (2003) found that NGOs use public relations as a primary tool to mobilize public opinion in their
favour towards a cause or an issue, as opposed to the not-for-profit sector, which is oriented towards building a better
community by resolving social problems. The Internet has provided NGOs the added advantage of easily built coalitions to
empower communities to coerce for a united cause. NGOs garner expert scientific help to demystify issues and make them
comprehensible for public discussion. While the level of activism in Malaysia generally remains low, there are sporadic
outbursts of activist movements as in the case of the anti-Lynas movement. Activist groups have rapidly adopted the use of
blogs, Facebook and twitter as both their communication strategy and communication tool.

1.3. Controversy surrounding Lynas (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Lynas Corporation Ltd. is an Australian rare earths mining company that has two major operations: a mining and con-
centration plant at Mount Weld, Western Australia, and a refining facility, Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) at the
Gebeng industrial park in Kuantan, Malaysia. LAMP commenced operations in 2012 amidst strong local opposition, and
expanded to become a national and international issue. On 8 March 2011, the New York Times2 first broke the story on the
construction of the 700 million Ringgit Malaysia (230 million USD) world’s largest rare earths processing plant in Gebeng,
Kuantan, Malaysia, raising public awareness of the LAMP project. The news raised fear among the Kuantan residents about
the risks of radioactive exposure, especially with the past experiences of the Bukit Merah incident in Malaysia as well as
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster after the Japanese earthquake. In addition, there was a lack of information on how
Lynas would provide a safe permanent waste plan for its toxic and radioactive waste, which would not risk either human
health or the environment in Malaysia (Stoplynas, 22 June 2014). This paper, thus, examines the impact of digital media on
the strategic social interactions with digital publics by activists, and the creation of public sentiment on the environmental
issue surrounding Lynas.

2. Methodology

Information on the controversy and protest surrounding the Lynas LAMP facility in Malaysia was gathered through a
qualitative analysis of newsportals and online local and international newspaper reports, NGO blogs (particularly of Save
Malaysia Stop Lynas and Himpunan Hijau), the Lynas corporation official website, state public documents and technical reports
on Lynas, as well as interviews with three key activists representing NGOs actively involved in the issue, the corporate
communications officer of Lynas Malaysia, and three Malaysian journalists on the Lynas beat.

3. Discussion

This paper argues and supports the notion that digital media has affected lives of humans around the world in a multitude
of ways as well as changed social interactions and the rules that shape them. Although environmental concerns are sometimes
overlooked in favour of economic growth, this case illustrates the role of media, especially digital media, in shaping public
opinion through socio-political-economic framing of environmental issues. The construction of concerns of a potential leak
of radioactive waste posing a dangerous environmental threat to the country was done through cyber protests against Lynas.
LAMP, fraught with controversy, generated strong opposition from local residents who consistently protested against the
plant with support from Malaysian opposition politicians, online media, and political NGOs.

3.1. Activist intervention

As there were grave doubts that Lynas was in a position to genuinely guarantee the safety of its temporary and permanent
disposal of its toxic and radioactive waste, a number of anti-Lynas environmental, consumer, and human rights groups formed
a “loose” Stop Lynas coalition to organize online and grassroots public protests, besides submitting appeals and affidavits
by technical experts to the government. While early protest against Lynas appeared to be politically driven, the issue was
taken up by environmentalists and other activists to be propelled further by two key movements: the environmental NGO,
Himpunan Hijau (Green Assembly) led by Wong Tack; and Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) founded by Tan Bun Teet.

1
comScore is a leading internet technology company that measures what the people do as they navigate the digital world.
2
Bradsher, K. Taking a risk for rare earths, New York Times, March 8, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/energy-environment/09rare.
html.
 K. Kaur / Public Relations Review 41 (2015) 311–314 313

Similar to the numerous examples of activist tactics in conflicts with organizations, as found in the Excellence study
(Grunig, 1992, p. 516), a gamut of these was also used in the protest against Lynas by the Malaysian activists. The anti-Lynas
movements employed popular attention-grabbing strategies to get broad support for the cause, including:

• Instituting a social media or cyber war;

• Using the traditional media by holding press conferences and distributing news releases;
• Organizing pseudo-events, including arranging various rallies on different streets converging in Kuala Lumpur at Inde-
pendence Square (Dataran Merdeka, a popular parade ground), for the bigger joint rally;
• Organizing blockades outside the Lynas premises in Gebeng, and at the Kuantan beach to prevent Lynas ships transporting
materials from docking;
• Hosting public forums, with expert speakers;
• Instituting petition/signature drives; and
• Creating public awareness and education through digital media and via blogs.

Himpunan Hijau organized large street rallies and started signature campaigns to influence the government to overturn its
decision in granting Lynas the license to operate. Supported by the environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), they
questioned the credibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) review of the controversial plant, especially
with regard to the environmental and health concerns. For an independent environmental assessment and evaluation, Save
Malaysia Stop Lynas commissioned Oeko-Institut, a leading European research and consultancy group based in Germany, to
assess and evaluate the risks posed by LAMP. Besides the sustained online anti-Lynas protests, rallies were also held outside
the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. In addition to the local advocacy efforts, the activists also lobbied in
Australia to draw attention to their cause since the issue involved an international corporation. Himpunan Hijau organized a
three-day long 24-h protest at the Lynas headquarters in Sydney during the 28 November 2013 annual general meeting of
the Lynas shareholders, gaining the support of several Australian environmental activists. Himpunan Hijau’s two-and-a-half
years of popular community campaigning with a series of public demonstrations and an epic 14-day 300 km Green Walk from
Kuantan (location of the Lynas plant) to the national capital of Kuala Lumpur, also received the attention of the Australians.
According to Wong Tuck, the protestors “walked for 14 days through 15 townships. We started with a few people, sleeping by
the side of the streets on the way, and then when we reached Kuala Lumpur, more than 20,000 people joined us.” In addition,
Himpunan Hijau ran an ambitious “Bury Lynas with 1,000,000 signatures” petition campaign (Malaysiakini, 25 November
2012), which they achieved amidst accusations of forging signatures.
The activists continued with their protests into the year 2014, since the Temporary operating licence given to Lynas was
to expire in September 2014. Calling for a “622: Shut Lynas Down” action, Himpunan Hijau organized a 2800 km bike ride
around Malaysia, visiting 35 communities, as well as a 300 km walk from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan, to end at the entrance of
the Lynas rare earths processing plant in Gebeng, Kuantan on June 22, 2014. Two activists from Australia walked in solidarity
with the protestors, adding support to the anti-Lynas protest by providing media statements in Malaysia and Australia as
well as posting constant updates on their Facebook pages. Almost 1000 people in 300 vehicles converged at the entrance
in a silent sit-down blockade of the Lynas rare earths processing plant, demanding for its closure. However, the anti-Lynas
protestors were given 10 min to disperse due to non-possession of a police permit to assemble, as required by law. Upon
their refusal to do so, the police arrested about a dozen activists, including the Himpunan Hijau leader.
According to Tan, the anti-Lynas coalition had two major strategies to achieve their objective to shut down the plant.
First, it was to take over the government through the vote and shut down the plant; and second, to undermine the share
value and financial standing of the corporation. While the first strategy did not materialize, the second strategy worked to
some extent as the company was undervalued with a reportedly closing price of $0.295 AUD on 31 December 2013. While
the activist groups did not achieve their goal in shutting down the plant, they increased awareness and public knowledge
about the environmental issues surrounding rare earths, as well as keener monitoring of the plant by the authorities.

3.2. Government reaction to the Lynas controversy

As a result of the widespread public protest and online negative publicity hinting at a lack of government concern with
public safety, the government regulator was coerced to conduct deeper investigation led by independent and international
experts. It established an independent International Expert Panel to evaluate any danger posed by Lynas to the country. The
Malaysian Academy of Sciences and the National Professors Council also conducted studies and submitted an independent
joint report on Rare Earth Industries: Moving Malaysia’s Green Economy Forward. Generally, they supported the plant’s oper-
ation and found it to meet safety requirements. Nevertheless, the strategic communication through protests by the activists
increased vigilance by the authorities of the plant’s operations.

3.3. Reaction from Lynas

Generally, Lynas appeared to have left it primarily to the Malaysian government and Pahang state authorities to deal with
hostilities and pressure from activists, opposition politicians, and the public. As a result of the initial anti-Lynas protests, the
organization also recruited a local Malaysian corporate communication team to manage the communications of the issue.
314 K. Kaur / Public Relations Review 41 (2015) 311–314

The journalists interviewed believed that Lynas did not strategically engage through social media with concerned residents,
NGOs or the general public to allay their fears, leading to the escalation of the issue and intensifying public outrage. Lynas
relied on their official website as well as the traditional media to mouth explanations by the Malaysian authorities and their
technical experts, but were themselves generally slow to respond, even to media queries.

4. Conclusion

The Save Malaysia Stop Lynas and Himpunan Hijau NGOs continue to monitor the operations at Lynas. Contributing to
changing social interactions, digital media has played a prominent and strategic role in creating awareness, educating the
public on the dangers of rare earths, and arousing public sentiment through loosely formed anti-Lynas coalitions in their fight
for an environmental cause. While the activist groups used digital media as a central part of their communication strategy to
build anti-Lynas support nationally and internationally, Lynas itself appears to have failed to recognize its value. However,
cyber-activism and digital public protests succeeded in coercing the government to investigate deeper into environmental
issues related to Lynas. This case shows that it has become imperative for governments, corporations and non-governmental
organizations to further examine the impact of the new media technologies, as both a communication strategy as well as a
tool in establishing and sustaining effective social interactions and engagement with stakeholders.

References

Chelluri, S., & Kaur, K. (2012). Social media, journalists, public relations: Trust or distrust? In Paper presented at the 21st AMIC Annual Conference on “Forty
Years of Media and Communication in Asia: Retrospect, Introspect and Prospects” July 11–14, 2012 Shah Alam, Malaysia,
Grunig, L. (1992). Activism: How it limits the effectiveness of organizations and how excellent public relations departments respond. In E. James, & Grunig
(Eds.), Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 503–530). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Stoplynas. (2014, June). Australian women join Malaysians in civil disobedience: 622–Shut Down Lynas. http://www.stoplynas.org/media-release-
622-shut-down-lynas (accessed 01.07.14)
Tkalac, A., & Pavicic, J. (2003). Nongovernmental organizations and international public relations. In K. Sriramesh, & D. Vercic (Eds.), The Global Public
Relations Handbook: Theory, Research, and Practice (pp. 490–522). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.