The government has blocked online portal The Malaysian Insider to "hide the truth", said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"The government is afraid that people might know the truth. That's why they have to block. It is to safeguard what they are doing. To hide what they are doing.

"They don't allow them to tell the people what is happening in the country," Mahathir told reporters after attending an event at KLCC in Kuala Lumpur today.

While Malaysia may not be as dictatorial as North Korea, it is "moving in that direction", the longest-serving premier pointed out.

Mahathir said people are already scared of being charged and jailed if they say something against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ( photo ).

"Maybe not very extreme but already people are afraid that if they say something or do something against Najib, you will be arrested, detained or charged in court," he said.

It is noteworthy that there were media clampdowns during Mahathir's 22-year tenure, notably the shutdown of Sin Chew Daily , The Star, and Watan during Operasi Lalang in 1987.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) confirmed yesterday that it has blocked access to news portal The Malaysian Insider , through the Malaysian internet service providers (ISPs).

It claimed the site had violated Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act on the misuse of network facilities.

Ban due to article on Najib

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak today confirmed that the ban was due to TMI 's article on Najib .

The news portal had quoted an anonymous source on the MACC operations review panel who claimed there was sufficient evidence to charge the prime minister.

Previously, the government had blocked Sarawak Report and a number of dissenting blogs, and it is in the process of amending the Communications and Multimedia Act, supposedly to tighten freedom of speech.

Mahathir said the government has closed all the channels of information, only releasing what they want the people to know.

"And what they tell the people consists of a lot of lies," he said.