MCMC must answer for bought Twitter account claim, says lawyer

 

Lawyer Syahredzan Johan has shot down the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commissions (MCMC) claim that its official Twitter account was "hacked" by irresponsible parties.

In a statement, Syahredzan ridiculed the hacking claim as the questionable tweets which led to MCMC temporarily suspending its account last night dated back to 2013 and 2014.

"And even if the account was really hacked, it would be impossible to 'backdate' any tweets," said the political secretary to DAP's Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang.

Screenshots of the tweets from around 2014 - largely using inappropriate language - were shared not long after MCMC's statement urging netizens to be polite and maintain decorum when making comments on social media, particularly in the context of the emergency declaration.

Subsequently, an individual using the Twitter handle @NazruiHakim claimed to be the MCMC's account original owner, and that he had sold it, without deleting any tweets, to another person while he was still in secondary school.

Now tweeting at @Nazrulllhakim, The Malay Mail quoted 22-year-old Nazrul Hakim as saying he had sold the MCMC's account - at the time with 50,000 followers - for RM1,300 to another person.

Syahredzan said the explanation had given rise to further questions which must be answered by the MCMC, including to confirm whether its Twitter account was purchased from another person.

The Malay Mail also reported that it contacted the said person who is believed to be a former or current staff member of the MCMC.

If true, Syahredzan said the MCMC must then explain its need to do so, how much was paid and whether it was done in a transparent manner.

"This issue involves an agency with wide-ranging powers to monitor the communications industry and online public interaction on social media.

"Therefore, these questions must be answered by the MCMC and the ministry," he said. - Mkini