Anti-government views not a crime, no blocks for that, minister pledges
(Malay Mail Online) – Newly-appointed Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak vowed today to not block websites that publish statements disagreeing with Putrajaya.
Salleh said Malaysia is a democratic country where there are only “certain things you can’t do” as national security must be protected.
“We are not going to block you if you want to give your views, you disagree with the government, there is nothing wrong.
“We must be able to differentiate between your views, opinion and between something which create disunity among the people, suspicion among the people… remember the Low Yat case?
“If you are not careful, it can cause a lot of problems,” he told reporters after launching the iMalaysia App And Game at Nexus Bangsar South.
The Sabah minister was referring to a theft case at the popular Low Yat plaza last month that later turned into a small racial riot following rumours inciting racial hatred among the Malays against the Chinese.
Salleh was asked to address allegations of double standards against the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) over its move to block Sarawak Report (SR) despite not having proven that the site was publishing content that threaten national security.
On the other hand, the Internet regulator has not issued any order to block the blog of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who has been waxing lyrical about the numerous controversies plaguing the Najib administration.
In his reply, Salleh stressed that MCMC has the authority to monitor blogs and that it will investigate every complaint regardless of whom it is against.
“But we are very fair, we will look at the complaints, there is nothing wrong for you to express your views, or if you disagree with the government but there are certain things that you have to take into consideration, the security and stability of our nation.
“That is paramount to us, the religious and racial harmony, extremism, terrorism, all these kind of things we want to avoid, so we must take action,” he said.
He also said there is “nothing wrong” in calling for Najib to be investigated and there is no need for Dr Mahathir to justify his remarks as he is “just making general statements”.
