MCMC blocks Medium

The popular open publishing platform has been blocked by MCMC after refusing to take down a post by Sarawak Report.

The open publishing platform Medium is now being blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Medium says it was blocked because it has yet to comply with a request by MCMC to remove an article by the banned publication Sarawak Report.

In an email to Medium, MCMC requested that the article be taken down “to prevent the circulation of false, unsubstantiated and misleading content that affect Malaysia’s social stability, tarnish confidence in Malaysia’s economy, as well as undermine a democratically elected Prime Minister and Government”.

The article is also in violation of Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, it says.

MCMC has issued a press statement, saying that it has instructed ISPs to block Medium. Our investigations show that access to the service is being blocked by ISPs such as TM, Maxis, Digi, and UMobile.

It also says it will continue to engage Medium to have Sarawak Report removed from the platform.

Sarawak Report was blocked last year by MCMC due to numerous complaints from the public for the unsubstantiated information published on its website.

More details can be found in an official post by the Medium here.

Founded by Twitter’s co-founder Evan Williams, Medium is a popular platform for science, tech and startup stories.