Amidst the controversy caused by the 50-odd protesters who had railed against the relocation of the Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu temple to Section 23, Shah Alam, by stomping on a decapitated cow-head and spewing warnings of bloodshed while heckling panelists and participants at the dialogue session organised by the Shah Alam Municipal Council, the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had requested Malaysiakini to remove two videos deemed offensive intended “to annoy any person, especially the Indians.”

As MCMC officers have already visited Malaysiakini’s premises four times, and interviewed the news portal’s 14 staff, we call on the MCMC to allow all Malaysiakini’s media crew to continue carrying out their duties professionally uninterrupted by marathon interview sessions.

The new media’s editors, journalists and technical crew of Malaysiakini have been cooperative with the officers from MCMC. The reporters and photographers are earning an honest living in reporting the news.

MCMC should also take into account Prime Minister Najib Abdul RAzak’s reiteration on Aug 7 when he said that the government will not filter the internet. In our borderless IT era, any effort to curtail the free flow of information will lead to suspicion of concealing the truth, thus causing more dissatisfaction as already evidenced by readers’ response to the recent MCMC order.

As online news readers including Indians have supported retaining the two said Malaysiakini videos, it is clear that the general public disagree with the request letter from MCMC.

The repeated probe by MCMC on Malaysiakini maybe misconstrued as tantamount to harassment or aimed at stifling the independence of the media. In wake of the enormous controversy that erupted when Sin Chew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Cheng was detained under ISA for carrying her job, i.e. news reporting, we are concerned that MCMC as a regulating body will be perceived as similarly attempting to silence the press.

The media provides the fourth estate in the in the check and balance of power after the executive, legislature and the judiciary which serves to present current affairs to and voice of the masses.

MCA is further concerned that if the authorities or regulating bodies are seen to act “efficiently” against Malaysiakini or Sin Chew Daily , whilst “lack of action” of “no action” has yet to be taken against certain publications which regularly have commentaries fanning racial agenda of a particularly community thus provoking the sensitivities of Malaysian minorities, despite police reports lodged.

We urge the authorities and regulating bodies to be fair in their investigations, lest perceptions of double-standards and selective prosecution abound.

The author is MCA spokesperson, Information and Communication Bureau.