Multimedia commission denies abusing power

(Bernama) – The Ministry of Information Communication and Culture today denied allegations that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had abused its power in controlling the new media.

The ministry said in a statement today that such allegations clearly showed that certain groups were attempting to tarnish the image and ridicule the commission as an independent body that regulated Internet facilities and their contents .

“The ministry takes a serious view of the incorrect and baseless accusations. The commission acts based on the powers provided under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998,” the statement said.

It said the regulatory measures taken by the commission had always been transparent, fair and balanced.

“In fact, the commission is an agency that upholds and protects government policies. This has been proven because to date, Malaysia is among the countries that do not impose any restriction on the Internet except for websites that contain pornography, threats to the national security and fraud,” it said.

The ministry said that certain websites had been closed down through the legal process in line with the provisions under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

As such, allegations by the owners of such websites that the commission had purportedly closed down their websites and acted like the Gestapo were slanderous, it said.

“What had occurred on the day in question was a technical disruption which resulted in the websites concerned to be inaccessible to the public,” the ministry said.

As such, the ministry advised the groups concerned to stop writing articles which did not have the facts and were slanderous, and called on the public not to be influenced by such unfounded accusations.