Media freedom advocates have called for greater transparency from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) over website blockings following its decision to cut off public access to UtusanTV.
This comes after Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil admitted that he was in the dark about the blocking and why it happened.
It is "strange" for the minister to continue to be "always so clueless" about the blocking of news websites, especially since this is not the first time it happened since he took office, Sinar Project technologist Siti Nurliza Samsudin said.
"MCMC should be transparent about issuing official statements on these blockings.
"If Fahmi (above) as the minister isn't aware of the blockings when it is his own agency, then the public and the website owners wouldn't be aware as well.
"This is dangerous especially if more critical websites or apps like Facebook or WhatsApp are blocked," she told Malaysiakini.
Reveal reason for blocking
Siti Nurliza was responding to Fahmi's guarantee this morning that authorities would not block news websites pending any investigations on the matter.
However, the MCMC does not need the minister's permission to block websites, and has done so in this case without his knowledge.
The technologist said one way Fahmi can make good on his guarantee is to work with MCMC to ensure no more block orders are given in this election period.
"However, the order is given to the internet service providers to implement. So far, we have found that the implementation is not consistent across ISPs," she added.
Sinar Project, which advocates for open data and transparency, also urged MCMC to state why they have blocked websites and what laws the websites had contravened.
Natural justice
The Centre for Independent Journalism agreed that while it is crucial for MCMC to remain independent of ministerial intervention, the regulator should build public trust by being transparent in their processes.
Its executive director Wathshlah Naidu said MCMC should have upheld principles of natural justice by giving due notice to UtusanTV before it was blocked.
The MCMC should also make public standard procedures for blocking and unblocking websites, and its investigations, she added.
She also urged the government to speed up the establishment of the Media Council, so it could take over the role of regulating news websites and upholding media ethics.
The legislation to enact the council, an independent multi-stakeholder body to regulate the media, is expected to be tabled in the March 2024 Parliament sitting.
UtusanTV is a spinoff of Utusan Malaysia’s lifestyle section.
It was set up by its former staff after its parent company Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Berhad was closed in 2019 due to financial troubles.
The Utusan Malaysia newspaper was relaunched in 2020 under new management and is not affiliated with UtusanTV.
It is the second news website to be blocked since the new government took over, with Malaysia Now temporarily blocked in June. - Mkini
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