PKR youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad has urged Telekom Malaysia, Maxis and government authorities to explain reports that the election results page undi.info.live had been blocked on polling night.
He said the allegations were a serious matter and the companies and authorities involved should clarify whether the reports were true.
“And if they are, they should also immediately disclose upon whose authority or instructions they were acting upon.
“It also goes without saying that such acts against a media organisation should never, ever take place again in this country,” said Nik Nazmi who is also the Setiawangsa MP, in a statement today.
The group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), meanwhile, concurred that TM and Maxis must give an explanation if the reports are true.
“If this is indeed true, TM and Maxis must explain to the public as to why they conspired to censor factual and timely reporting from Malaysiakini, and whether this was done under the orders of the previous government.
“This is a clear abuse of power and an overreach of their responsibilities as broadband providers, and a further chilling reminder of the many reforms that need to be done, including separation of government and business interest.
“We remind MCMC that as the country’s regulator on all electronic communications and multimedia, they should exercise their powers in a more responsible manner and not be influenced by unlawful political considerations as in the previous government,” said LFL executive director Eric Paulsen in a separate statement.
He also urged the MCMC to lift the blocks previously imposed during former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s administration for its political content.
These include the whistleblower site Sarawak Report, the now-defunct news website The Malaysian Insider, news portal Asia Sentinel, website Malaysia Chronicle, online publishing platform Medium, and various online blogs.
Yesterday, digital transparency advocacy group Sinar Project released its findings after monitoring the 14th general election and week leading up to it for online censorship.
It said testing has detected signs of online censorship starting from 9.55pm on the night of May 9, which it the day of the election. It lasted for several hours.
Specifically, it said user attempting to access Malaysakini’s undi.info.live website would be redirected to another server that displayed the standard government notice informing that the website had been blocked.
When contacted, both TM and Maxis separately told Malaysiakini that questions regarding national content blocking should be directed to the MCMC and they as ISPs were obliged to follow the country's cyberlaws.
Malaysiakini has already contacted the MCMC and awaiting its response. -Mkini
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