Probe MCMC data leak, other wrongs, Gobind urged

A rights group has urged the new Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo to probe various alleged wrongdoings related to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), in particular the massive data breach of last year.

“We call upon the minister to investigate the October 2017 personal data breach expose of over 46 million mobile phone subscribers (in addition to other personal medical and employment records from Jobstreet.com and various medical associations) that were compromised and sold.

“The now-infamous largest data breach in Malaysian history has been traced back to MCMC’s outsourcing of a phone-blocking system to the little-known company Neumera Sdn Bhd, and until today, MCMC has not come clean on the scandal,” said Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen in a statement.

He lauded Gobind for announcing the review of the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 and investigations into the controversial block on Malaysiakini's live election results site and others, but hoped that the minister would also look into “uncovering further wrongdoings on the part of the MCMC”.

Paulsen also urged the minister to review the commission’s “investigation and prosecution policies.

They should be updated and revamped “to prevent the widespread abuse of power that we saw under the previous BN administration when these powers were misused to clamp down on political opponents and dissidents online”, said the lawyer-activist.

For example, he said section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA), allegedly the basis for the “many frivolous arrest and prosecution relating to social media comments” must be amended as soon as possible.

“In our view, the offence should only be limited to serious and well-defined online threats, harassment or bullying against a weaker party, an ordinary individual, and cannot be used by government leaders or officials against dissidents or political opponents as was the practice under the previous BN administration.”

On the unblocking of websites critical of the former BN government such as Sarawak Report, he said MCMC’s powers to block websites must be reviewed as it is “too easily abused”.

“We are concerned that this power to block has been and further, may be illegal since there is no legislative provision in the CMA empowering MCMC to do so,” said Paulsen.

Clear guidelines need to be put in place in order to better define the scope and powers of the MCMC when dealing with websites or contents that they view as illegal or prejudicial to public order or security, he said.

In the interim, Paulsen urged Gobind to instruct MCMC to not block any more websites until legislative amendments are carried out. - Mkini