MCMC: Lawyer's post not blocked on deputy minister's instruction
Published: Jun 4, 2024 8:58 PM
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has denied blocking a Penang-based lawyer’s social media posting based on the instructions of Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.
In a statement to Malaysiakini, the commission said the Facebook post had violated Meta’s community guidelines.
MCMC said the action was taken in accordance with the standard operating procedure based on complaints regarding the posting, which it claimed contained “untrue and confusing” elements.
Shamsher Singh Thind’s blocked post was related to the controversy surrounding Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti), a firm co-owned by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s husband.
In a subsequent post, the lawyer referred to Teo, noting how she had defended Yeoh over calls for the latter to resign, and asked the deputy minister if she was using MCMC to silence critics of her colleague.
Lawyer Shamsher Singh Thind
Earlier, it was reported that Shamsher also sent a letter of demand to MCMC regarding the blocked posting.
In the letter, his lawyers said that MCMC’s action opposed the Federal Constitution’s guaranteed right of
freedom of speech and expression.
Guarding online safety
MCMC said that ensuring safety online, which is one of the commission’s responsibilities, includes taking action against online behaviour that violates the laws.
“This includes actions that spread false and slanderous news,” it said.
It added that actions taken had been based on objective observation.
Asia Mobiliti was appointed as one of the two companies to run the Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) programme, a bus-on-demand trial pilot project, for nine months.
Yeoh was accused of alleged nepotism in the matter.
Guarding online safety
MCMC said that ensuring safety online, which is one of the commission’s responsibilities, includes taking action against online behaviour that violates the laws.
“This includes actions that spread false and slanderous news,” it said.
It added that actions taken had been based on objective observation.
Asia Mobiliti was appointed as one of the two companies to run the Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) programme, a bus-on-demand trial pilot project, for nine months.
Yeoh was accused of alleged nepotism in the matter.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching
On May 29, Teo reportedly said that calls for Yeoh to resign over the matter were “unfair”, adding that it was too early for the latter to do so.
Asia Mobiliti, whose other co-founder is director and former Malaysiakini CEO Pramesh Chandran, said everything was done above board and it is considering legal action against those casting aspersions about the appointment process.
On May 29, Teo reportedly said that calls for Yeoh to resign over the matter were “unfair”, adding that it was too early for the latter to do so.
Asia Mobiliti, whose other co-founder is director and former Malaysiakini CEO Pramesh Chandran, said everything was done above board and it is considering legal action against those casting aspersions about the appointment process.
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