MCMC requested removal of tweets to protect national interest

MCMC said it has to ensure online platforms comply with provisions of the law as stipulated in Section 223 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. — MCMC

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has released a statement saying that it is responsible for ensuring online platforms comply with Malaysian laws after a user complained that it had attempted to take down two of his posts.

Twitter user @BadBoy2662 received a message from Twitter saying that MCMC had claimed that two of his posts were in violation of local laws.

"In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that Twitter has received a request from MCMC regarding your Twitter account that claims the following content violates the law(s) of Malaysia.

“We have not taken any action on the reported content at this time as a result of this request," said Twitter in an email to him, adding that its policy is to inform users when it receives a legal request from an authorised entity to remove content from an account.

The posts were critical of two ministers handling and response to the floods that have affected several states.

MCMC said it respects platform providers such as Twitter but for the sake of national interest, it has to enforce compliance with provisions of the law as stipulated in Section 223 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998

Section 233 also stipulates that anyone using network facilities, services or applications to make or share comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or false shall be liable to a fine of up to RM50,000, prison sentence of up to one year, or both.

MCMC has also made reports to Twitter about offensive hashtags used by netizens.