Blogging platform hosting Sarawak Report refuses to take down article on Najib

Blogging platform Medium has been blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission for refusing to take down an article by Sarawak Report. – January 26, 2016. 

A blogging platform which hosts Sarawak Report is putting up a fight after Malaysian internet authorities insisted it remove an article which claimed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is negotiating a safe passage in the RM2.6 billion donation saga.

Instead, Medium, which has been hosting the vocal portal since it was blocked by Malaysian internet service providers, responded to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) by requesting documents to prove that the article was “false, unsubstantiated, and misleading”.

"In order for us to more thoroughly investigate, could you please provide a copy of the MCMC's assessment that the post in question is 'false, unsubstantiated, misleading and in violation of the following written law of Malaysia?" the company said in a letter to MCMC on January 21.

Medium also wanted MCMC to provide formal documents from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), to prove that the report about MACC recommending 37 charges against Najib was not true, as claimed by MCMC.

Medium said there was no response from MCMC, but found its site subjected to blockage by ISPs in Malaysia, including by Telekom Malaysia, the company which operates the Unifi and Streamyx connections.

"Medium’s in no position to evaluate the truth of the Sarawak Report’s Medium post. 

"We’ve received no evidence that the post violates any of our rules, or any law. We stand by investigative journalists who publish on Medium. Until we receive an order from a court of competent jurisdiction, the post stays up," it said in a message to users.

MCMC started blocking Sarawak Report last July following its report that Najib received RM2.6 billion in his private bank accounts from companies linked to troubled 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

"The site has displayed information that is yet to be verified, and information that is still under investigation," it said.

Meanwhile, technology portal Tech in Asia reported that Medium's servers can still be accessed in Malaysia using mobile network "of a particular network".

“I’ve heard [the network] is ignoring some of the orders from MCMC,” said Tech in Asia correspondent Judith Baleaone in a commentary.

- TMI