MALAYSIAN Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) today denied claims by lawyer Shamsher Singh Thind that his Facebook post was blocked on Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching's orders as the decision was made following a complaint lodged with them.
“In a post on June 3, the Facebook account owner gave the impression that Teo was behind the decision to block the post.
“MCMC would like to stress that this is not true,” it said in a statement.
MCMC said it took action after an objective review which found that the contents of the Facebook post contained elements that were false, confusing and went against the community guidelines set by Meta, which operates the social networking site.
MCMC said one of its responsibilities was to ensure that online platforms were not used to spread fake news and defamatory content.
Shamsher has sent a letter of demand to MCMC for allegedly getting Facebook to block his post on Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti).
Free Malaysia Today reported that Shamsher had claimed that his post on May 26 was blocked following a legal request by MCMC.
In the letter of demand, lawyers representing Shamsher from Gunamalar Law Chambers said MCMC’s move was against freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, and that it could be construed as censorship.
The letter of demand was sent to MCMC chairman Salim Fateh Din.
The letter stated that Section 3(3) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 clearly states that no provision in this law can be interpreted as condoning internet censorship.
Lawyers were also seeking confirmation if MCMC had asked Facebook to block the post and reasons for it.
“If we do not receive the information or confirmation requested within two days of this letter of demand, our client will assume that MCMC had indeed made the legal request without reasonable cause, and our client will be free to take any legal action deemed necessary against MCMC without any further notice,” it said.
Shamsher was questioning if Teo was involved as she had defended Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh against alleged nepotism in the Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) programme involving the company linked to her husband.
“My post has been blocked in Malaysia. DAP always talks about open tenders, so of course I asked what was open about the DRT issue as there was no tender. Was that wrong?
"I know, Teo, you strongly defended Yeoh. And I know that you’re the deputy communications minister with power over MCMC.
“So I want to ask you, did you use a government agency like MCMC to close the mouths of those who criticise your friends in your party and cabinet?” Shamsher posted on Facebook.
On May 29, Teo defended Yeoh after the Selangor government was accused of nepotism in the award of a public transport contract to improve bus service in the state.
Teo said it is premature for Yeoh to step down as no one has shown concrete proof of a conflict of interest or power abuse as alleged.
Over the weekend, Yeoh’s husband Ramachandran Muniandy said his company was selected by the Selangor government for a transport service pilot project based purely on merit and not because he was married to a minister.
He also said that his company – Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd – had met all the necessary requirements to become a service provider for Selangor Mobility’s demand-responsive transit (DRT) system.
The company has been given nine months to run the project on a trial basis since November last year.
Asia Mobiliti’s direct appointment has come under public scrutiny over the company’s links to Yeoh. Ramachandran is Asia Mobiliti’s co-founder and chief executive officer. – June 4, 2024.
