THE government is right to take action against online content that is slanderous, false or malicious, an academic said.

Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said the blocking or suspension of social media accounts or news portals in such cases should not be seen as a sign of repression.

He told The Malaysian Insight that the government had every right to pull down such offensive content as it would lead to misinformation.

In recent weeks, several news portals have said that their services were blocked by the authorities. These portals said they had been targeted for criticising the government.

Among those affected were MalaysiaNow, MalaysiaToday, UtusanTV and TV Pertiwi.

Several people have also said that their social media accounts were suspended or deleted.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil has denied ordering the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) or any social media platform to censor anybody.

Mazlan said freedom of speech has its limits and does not give one the right to slander.

“Space for free speech is not shrinking. Criticism is okay, but slander or telling lies is not. The government has to act, and I don’t see anything wrong with taking down posts,” he said.

“It is the rational thing to do. For example, recently, someone accused (Prime Minister) Anwar Ibrahim of adding the word ‘liberal’ to our Rukun Negara. In truth, the word has been there for years.

“Freedom of speech is not the right to defame. Action has to be taken.”

‘Counter with information’

However, Iman Research programme director Badrul Hisham Ismail disagreed that the government is free to take such drastic actions.

He said the government should just leave the content alone but must provide detailed explanation to counter the narrative.

“MCMC has done things that it had not done before. In March, it ordered streaming platform Viu to pull down local movie ‘Mentega Terbang’. And then, the government banned the movie ‘Pulau’ in cinemas,” he said.

“Now they have shut down UtusanTV and asked social platform X to remove certain posts. This is suppression.

“The government should provide explanations and take legal action against those who post dangerous content under existing laws.

“Let the law take its course. Everyone has the right to speak, and if you don’t agree, argue with facts. That is why we should encourage debate. Let the public decide.”

Badrul said government agencies such as the Community Communications Department (J-Kom) should intensify their work to feed the genuine information.

“I remember Annuar Musa, when he was the minister, said in parliament that it was not the government’s job to pull down content on the internet. He was responding to a PAS lawmaker’s question on Netflix,” he said.

“So J-Kom, as an agency that is responsible for the government’s communications, should answer questions and provide facts to the people.” – August 29, 2023.