GEORGE TOWN: The High Court here has dismissed a lawyer's bid to initiate judicial review proceedings against the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) over a restriction placed on his Facebook post last year (2024).
The High Court on Thursday (Jan 23) ruled that the decision to remove Dr Shamsher Singh Thind's post was made by Facebook and not MCMC, hence it could not be subjected to a judicial review.
In his decision delivered via Zoom on Thursday (Jan 23), Justice Anand Ponnudurai said MCMC's action was not a "decision" which the court could review.
He said the decision was made by Facebook and that MCMC had only issued a request for action.
Anand said Shamsher Singh had failed to present an arguable case to secure leave for judicial review.
Describing the legal request by MCMC as an administrative act, the judge said it was not one that is legally enforceable.
"Any recourse, if at all, is against Facebook, and possibly MCMC, in the civil courts," Anand said.
Anand said social media platforms have the final say in content moderation, even when prompted by regulators such as MCMC.
Earlier, Shamsher Singh's lawyer, A. Srimurugan, said his client wanted the court to declare that MCMC had no legal power to issue its directive.
"MCMC does not have authority under the law to issue a directive to Facebook instructing them to remove content," he said.
Srimurugan, who appeared with J. Gunamalar, said that although MCMC's action was referred to as an administrative request, it took the form of a directive.
"Whether it is called an administrative request or otherwise, the action needs to be scrutinised by the court.
"The Attorney General in his affidavit refers to it as an administrative request, while Facebook calls it a legal request.
"The issue here revolves around the labels being used. We interpret it as an order or directive from MCMC," he said.
In written submissions, the Attorney General had asked for the application to be dismissed, saying the MCMC's administrative request was "neither susceptible nor amenable to a judicial review application".
The court made no order as to costs.
The Attorney General was represented by federal counsel Aliza Jamaluddin.
Shamsher Singh Thind had made an application to quash an administrative request that resulted in his Facebook post being blocked for Malaysian users, in May 2024.
In his application to the court, Shamsher Singh claimed that MCMC had violated his freedom of speech by blocking the post.
He wanted the court to declare the regulator's actions illegal and wanted MCMC to drop its "directive" to Facebook calling for the post to be blocked.
In the blocked Facebook post, Shamsher had linked the award of a government contract to the husband of a Cabinet minister.
The post sparked intense debate online, prompting MCMC to request that Facebook restrict its visibility.
According to Shamsher Singh, Facebook subsequently blocked the post from being viewed within the country, after "a legal and human rights assessment".
When contacted by The Star, Shamsher Singh said The High Court did not allow his application to challenge the decision of MCMC for sending a legal request to Facebook, which has resulted in the restriction of his post related to comments on a minister's husband's company in Malaysia.
"The reason is not because the legal request is justified or because l was wrong in writing the post, but because, according to the attorney-general, it was only a request and not a decision susceptible to judicial review.
"I am not appealing as l do not see any error in the court's judgment.
"Even the Attorney General's request for costs was denied by the Judge," he said.
