Group holds ‘silent protest’ outside MCMC

Some 30 individuals held a silent protest outside the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) office in Cyberjaya today, symbolic of purported government attempts to silence critical views online.

Mostly dressed in black and face masks marked with an X, the protesters sat on the ground with placards that demanded the MCMC to respect freedom of speech and urged the government to not fear its critics.

Group spokesperson, lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali, noted that while many would say their numbers today are small, what matters more would be their collective online reach across various social media platforms.

“What we want to express is simple. Stop restricting the people’s right to free speech.

“Threats by the government through regulatory agencies must end. Do not intimidate the people because the people have free speech,” said the Pejuang information chief.

He cited data released by Meta on the number of restricted contents - from 386 in 2020 to 8,450 last year -  and claimed that the sharp spike was attributed to not only the removal of harmful content such as pornography or illegal gambling but also posts critical of the government.

Meanwhile on TikTok, which Rafique noted the government had labelled as an “opposition playground”, there were a total of 340 requests from the government to remove or restrict content in the first half of last year.

In TikTok’s biannual Government Removal Requests Report released today, it was recorded that the Malaysian government had requested another 1,862 content takedowns in the second half of last year, a 447.6 percent jump from the previous reporting period.

Among the protesters include content creators YB Viral and DD Chronicle - as well as activists behind a movement dubbed “Demi Negara”, who claimed to be the victims of restricted access to their website.

Previously, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the final decision on content removal lies with social media platforms, which can decide against a request from MCMC.

Sepang district police chief Wan Kamarul Wan Azran, who had accepted a notification under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 from the organisers, was seen on the ground with a team of uniformed personnel.

He called for the protest to end as scheduled at 6pm.

MCMC claims FB posts cyber-bullied minister in Asia Mobiliti issue

Lawyer hits back: 'What's untrue, confusing about my post?'

MCMC: Lawyer's post not blocked on deputy minister's instruction

Lawyer claims MCMC blocked FB post criticising Yeoh over Asia Mobiliti

LFL flays MCMC over 'unnecessary' report against blogger

MCMC reject's blogger's accusations, lodges police report