Minister: Access blocked because Govt cannot tolerate lies

KOTA KINABALU: Access to Sarawak Report has been blocked because the Government wants to make it known that it will no longer tolerate lies and endless speculation on the website.

However, Housing, Local Government and Urban Well-being Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said he did not think the move was effective.

“To be honest, I don’t even think that it will be effective.

“People can get around it. But the Government must make its stand known based on the law,” he said after his Hari Raya open house in Tuaran yesterday.

“If the Government does not impose or exercise the law, it might as well cease as a government but a stand must be made as a matter of principle,” he added.

The country, said Abdul Rahman, was already facing tremendous challenges and the Government did not need detractors that were only bent on harming the economy.

On Sunday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission announced that access to the Sarawak Report website had been blocked on grounds that it undermined the stability of the country.

It said the website was blocked under Sections 211 and 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act following complaints that it was posting unsubstantiated information.

The site will remain blocked until the special task force on 1Malaysia Development Bhd completes its investigation.

Sarawak Report, which published a series of stories on 1MDB, has been inaccessible since Sunday evening while some people could access it through proxy servers.