Online Critics Face Action Amid Roll-Out of Malaysia's Data Collection Project

Some politicians, members of public being called in for questioning, charged or gagged

- Hazlin Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian authorities are taking action against online critics of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's administration, with politicians and members of the public being called in for police questioning in recent weeks, or charged or muzzled.

This comes amid growing unease over the government's Mobile Phone Data (MPD) project, which collects users' mobile data from telcos, without an opt-out option.

Despite government assurances, critics have raised concerns over data privacy and security, fearing the information could be misused for surveillance.

Already, there appears to have been moves to silence online critics.

Most recently, two channels of messaging service Telegram were blocked for allegedly harmful content that violated local laws.

Whistle-blower watchdog Edisi Siasat (investigation edition), with 1.18 million members, and its companion channel Edisi Khas (special edition) are no longer accessible in Malaysia.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said on June 19 that it obtained a temporary court order against Telegram and two channels on the platform for allegedly disseminating content that violates the country's laws.

The MCMC's latest move echoes its 2015 block on Britain-based news blog Sarawak Report over 1MDB-related content.

And now, at least half a dozen individuals have been questioned by the police for social media posts critical of government decisions, including the data collection scheme.

"They (the authorities) have to stop the data collection. Why is there a need for large-scale monitoring?" said Malaysian Chinese Association Pahang Youth chief Wong Siew Mun, whose party is aligned with the Anwar-led unity government.