Two individuals facing action from the country’s internet regulator have urged the government to fulfil its promise of protecting freedom of speech, even when contrary opinions emerge.
Training their sights on Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil, former three-term Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong and Twitter user Salim Iskandar today appeared at a joint press conference with lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali at the latter’s office in Shah Alam.
Wee argued that he was denied his rights to natural justice when the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) blocked access to his site last month, without prior notification.
"You can't deny someone the right to be heard.
"Before you take action, I must have the right to be heard. Otherwise, we are worse than North Korea," said Wee, a blogger with over 1,000 articles in the last 18 years.
He noted that the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) was first enacted in 1998 when most of the current social media platforms have yet to take off, and as such the law is due for an amendment towards protecting more freedom of speech online.
Judicial review bid
Represented by Rafique, Wee said he has since filed an application for a judicial review seeking an order to overturn MCMC's decision, among others, with a hearing scheduled on Aug 30.
"Due process is a must. The main issue here is that they are denying me my right to natural justice," said Wee, who is also a former law practitioner.
Wee said the court's recognition of due process was despite there being no provision under the CMA for MCMC to notify its action, the same mechanism used against genuine threats including porn sites and illegal gambling.
At the same time, Salim rubbished Fahmi's statement yesterday that he was not aware of MCMC's latest action to block news portal UtusanTV.
"Can we believe him? Fahmi is known to be one of the most active ministers on social media.
"Like when the 1975 incident happened at night, the very next day he took action (to cancel the Good Vibes Festival). Why can't he do the same for us?" he said.
Inform reason for blocking
According to Salim, the MCMC had since Wednesday blocked two of his mobile phone numbers without prior notice, more than a month after he faced police investigations over tweets satirising Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
"Even if the law doesn't require it, it should be a courtesy for MCMC to inform us of the reasons why we are blocked," he added.
Online portal MalaysiaNow previously reported that Salim had posted two tweets mocking Anwar's position in a state election campaign poster featuring him behind a candidate.
Amend CMA
Meanwhile, Rafique pointed out that Pakatan Harapan had previously campaigned in support of freedom of speech, but yet now fail to amend related laws including the CMA.
"When there are no efforts to abolish (CMA) or make improvements, then issues such as these arbitrary actions will keep on happening.
"If the blocks are on gambling sites or other similar sites, I would understand that. No questions. That is illegal and they should block as many as possible.
"What is strange is that when these people who are critical of the government are being treated the same way, and yet our phones are also still receiving advertisements for gambling sites," he added.
Media freedom advocates have since called for greater transparency from MCMC over website blockings following its decision to cut off public access to UtusanTV. - Mkini
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