KUALA LUMPUR: There is freedom of expression in Malaysia, but that, however, does not mean wild, sensational allegations can be cast, says Fahmi Fadzil.
Freedom of expression does not mean freedom to make claims that are false, misleading, slanderous or play with 3R (race, religion and royalty) sentiments, the Communications and Digital Minister said.
“The laws are there. If you flout the law or run afoul, due process will take place,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Star on Tuesday.
Echoing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Fahmi said political arguments should be countered with political arguments, not by resorting to the 3R.
“When you try to stoke racial sentiments or religious sentiments or attack royalty, this will undermine public order. That is going too far,” he added.
“I have said this in Parliament and I will repeat it. We have freedom of expression in Malaysia. None of you (media personnel) has been harassed.
“There have been no papers shut down in the past seven months, not by withdrawing of permits or licences.
“In fact, sometimes my party or government supporters feel that I am weak for not forcing TikTok, Twitter or Facebook to shut down accounts. I have done no such thing.
“There were allegations that I had blocked caretaker Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s TikTok account and a number of others.
“In fact, this afternoon (Tuesday), I met with a TikTok representative together with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
“TikTok said they received no instructions from the MCMC or government to block any account and definitely not Muhammad Sanusi’s account.
“Instead, they explained to us that they received a huge number of reports against several accounts, including Muhammad Sanusi’s.
“TikTok suspended those accounts to do their own internal investigations.”
Muhammad Sanusi’s TikTok account has since been reinstated.On July 16, PAS official bulletin Harakah posted on Twitter a video of Muhammad Sanusi saying his TikTok account had been banned.
In the video, he claims that his account was banned by the government, likening it to North Korea where media freedom is restricted.
Muhammad Sanusi claimed at a press conference later that the government influenced TikTok into banning his account to stop him from reaching out to the public.
He said the rakyat would turn their back on the unity government for the “draconian” move.
“Those people saying that I am dictatorial or that there is no freedom of speech in Malaysia are just trying to run down the image of the government,” said Fahmi.
“My conscience is clear and TikTok has come out to explain. There was no instruction from us and they did it on their own.”
Fahmi said TikTok also informed him last December that 95% of content taken down from the platform was done via its own system if they flouted its community guidelines.
“So, you don’t need someone to highlight, flag or report that content.
“We’ve seen this pattern where Perikatan Nasional activists, elected representatives or even party leaders have a penchant for making wild allegations and then apologising or deleting Facebook posts or accounts,” he said, adding that PAS leaders had also lost many defamation suits in court.
“Malaysia has risen 40 points to be at number 73 in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index number one in South-East Asia.
“So how can these allegations be true?”
