Former Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong has been granted leave to file a judicial review against the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for blocking access to his blog.

The leave was granted by Judge Amarjeet Singh, who heard the matter at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

Taking to social media, Wee said this is the first time such a matter has been brought to the court for determination.

"We must stop the Big Brother attitude and for being 'budak suruhan' (henchmen)," he tweeted.

Earlier this month, Wee (above) and netizen Salim Iskandar urged the government to fulfil its promise of protecting freedom of speech, even when faced with contrary opinions, as their blogs faced a crackdown from the country's internet regulator.

Wee said that he was denied the right to natural justice when the MCMC blocked access to his blog, which has more than 1,000 articles in the last 18 years, without prior notification.

Wee then filed an application for a judicial review to overturn the MCMC's decision.

Lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali, who had previously spoken out against MCMC's arbitrary blocks, welcomed today's decision, saying the courts have always protected constitutional rights and the basic right of freedom to express.

Commenting further, Rafique said although the MCMC has the power to regulate the internet, it should not overstep the boundary of censorship by unilaterally blocking websites.

"The MCMC must stop this unilateral act of blocking. Give those affected the right to contest," he told Malaysiakini.

Internet regulator must reply

Moving forward, Rafique confirmed that the full judicial review will have to be heard, and in the process, the internet regulator must reply to the points forwarded by Wee.

The decision comes in the wake of several news websites being blocked by the MCMC.

Those affected include MalaysiaNow, UtusanTV, and TV Pertiwi.

This is despite a pledge by Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil that news websites will not be blocked pending investigations.

The MCMC has declined to comment on its actions, other than to say that it was acting in accordance with the law and cannot comment on specific cases until its investigations have concluded.

'Mainstream media should criticise gov't at times'

'Mainstream media should criticise gov't at times'

COMMENT | Media's role to keep new regime in check

COMMENT | Media's role to keep new regime in check

Block 'fake news', online harms or face action, MCMC warns internet providers

Block 'fake news', online harms or face action, MCMC warns internet providers