MCMC awaits AGC decision on Anwar-Muhyiddin fuel subsidy for foreigners row

 

PARLIAMENT | Over a year since launching its investigation, the MCMC is still waiting for further instructions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for the case involving former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s alleged backing of RON95 subsidies for foreigners.

The Bersatu president was accused by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of issuing the alleged remarks, after which the latter had on Aug 6 last year ordered the MCMC to investigate the matter.

Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat today, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching (above) confirmed that the MCMC has submitted its findings to the AGC for its consideration.

“We have referred that case to the AGC (and) we are still waiting for a decision from the AGC,” Teo (Harapan-Kulai) said briefly without detailing when the referral was made or the investigation’s outcome.

The deputy minister said this when pressed on the matter by Rosol Wahid (PN-Hulu Terengganu), who sought details on the investigation’s status, considering how the probe was initiated over a year back.

“Is it true that Pagoh (Muhyiddin) said it or not? Until now, I have been waiting like ‘pungguk rindukan bulan’ (yearning in vain) for that answer,” Rosol said in a supplementary question to Teo today.

Anwar had ordered the MCMC to probe whether Muhyiddin made remarks supporting foreigners’ right to subsidised fuel after the former Perikatan Nasional chairperson denied having made such a statement and challenged the prime minister to furnish evidence.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin

Muhyiddin’s denial came after Anwar’s claim the previous day, asserting that Muhyiddin had questioned the government’s decision not to provide petrol subsidies to foreigners.

A statement by the MCMC at the time indicated that it was investigating a dubious TikTok video, which claimed Muhyiddin had made the remarks, as insisted by Anwar.

Checks by Malaysiakini found that the way the information was presented in the video is similar to how fake headlines are shared on social media.

Anwar also said he would only apologise to Muhyiddin if the MCMC found there was no legitimate source, arguing that the opposition figure should also apologise for various attacks against the government.

Over 65k takedown requests

Meanwhile, Teo today said that between Jan 1, 2023 and Oct 15 this year, MCMC submitted 65,680 takedown requests to online service providers for harmful online content containing false information.

Out of the figure, 56,304 postings (86 percent) had been removed after assessing complaints received, compliance with platform communication guidelines, and applicable legal provisions.

During the same period, 546 cases involving false content were investigated by MCMC under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, after which nine cases were prosecuted in court while 12 cases received verdicts with total fines amounting to RM75,500.

Commenting on the figures, Rosol posited that postings by individuals such as Jorjet Myla, blogger Wan Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, and political activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin, also known as Chegubard, would have been included in MCMC’s submissions for takedowns.

As such, he questioned which authority is empowered to determine whether content is fake news, highlighting that there should be check-and-balance mechanisms to guarantee that MCMC does not “suppress the public’s legitimate criticism of the government”.

Hulu Terengganu MP Rosol Wahid

In response, Teo reiterated that the MCMC conducts assessments when it receives complaints from any quarters, including other government agencies or the public, while online platforms will also undertake their own checks.

“Because of that, as I mentioned earlier, not all requests from MCMC are actually taken down - only 86 percent of the content or requests submitted by MCMC have been removed,” Teo said. - Mkini