TMI ban: Activist says MCMC violated procedures

It should have first issued a show-cause letter, says Badaruddin Ismail.

PETALING JAYA: A political activist today accused the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) of violating standard enforcement procedures when it blocked access to The Malaysian Insider (TMI).

Speaking to FMT, former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Badaruddin Ismail said MCMC should have first asked TMI to explain its position.

He said the Internet regulator should have issued a show-cause letter if it believed the news portal had published a misleading article.

“If it’s true that the article was incorrect or false, it should tell TMI to make the necessary changes,” he added. “Action can be taken only after TMI fails to comply with the order.”

Badaruddin said the act of blocking access to a news site was a violation of the public’s right to have access to information.

The 70-year-old activist last night lodged a police report against MCMC, hours after it instructed several Internet service providers to block access to TMI.

He said he was prompted by his belief that there was malice behind the action.

MCMC in a statement yesterday defended its move, saying TMI had violated Section 233 of Communication and Multimedia Act 1998. It did not give details.

Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan has also condemned MCMC’s action, saying the 1998 act did not give it the power to block access to a news portal. He said the act merely made it an offence to use network facilities or services improperly.

For a punishment to be imposed, he said, the matter must first be taken to court, the only body legally allowed to decide if TMI is guilty as alleged.

“MCMC can’t, on its own, decide that there is a breach of the said section, and then act by blocking access to TMI,” Syahredzan in a Facebook posting yesterday.

It is believed that TMI was punished for publishing an article titled, “Enough proof to charge Najib over SRC, says MACC oversight committee,” which quoted an unnamed member of the Operations Review Panel (ORP).

ORP Chairman Hamid Bugo and another member of the panel, Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, issued a statement late yesterday saying that the report was inaccurate.