GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has chided the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for its advisory notice on spreading speculations and unverified news related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Lim claimed that the advisory notice was a political tactic to prevent the people from understanding the 1MDB controversy better.
"Such statements should not be made by the MCMC as it is against the freedom of information that we practice.
"Why when there are negative news involving Barisan Nasional leaders only did the MCMC issue such notice?
"No such actions were taken when there is similar news about opposition leaders," he told a press conference at his office in Komtar here Friday.
Lim added that when allegations to defame his son were spread on several blogs, he was told that action will be taken.
"It has been so long and nothing has happened. I don't think the MCMC is even interested," he said.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that the MCMC warned the public not to spread modified pictures, unverified news or any speculation regarding investigations into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) through social media, including the mobile messaging application WhatsApp.
"It is an offence to share or spread such materials as it could break the law, especially Section 211 or Section 213 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. If one is found guilty, one could face a RM50,000 fine, a one-year jail sentence or both," the MCMC said in a statement.
Under Section 211, it is an offence to provide content which is indecent, obscene, false, menacing, or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person.
THE MALAYMAIL ONLINE
Marina Mahathir: ‘Jails will be full’ if crime to lampoon 1MDB news
A movie poster of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' features Najib instead of Frodo Baggins looking at the One Ring in his hand and the altered title, 'The Lord of the Ringgits: The Fellowship of 1MDB'. — Facebook screencapKUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Malaysian prisons would overflow if authorities prosecute for Internet satire on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and related controversies, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir said today to illustrate the prevalence of the practice.
“Jails will be full…” Marina tweeted from her @netraKL account as she posted the Malay Mail Online report on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) warning against spreading false news on the firm that included altered images.
The government agency said in a statement today that such deeds on social media or on mobile messaging app WhatsApp may violate Section 211 or Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which is punishable with one year’s jail or a fine of not more than RM50,000.
MCMC’s warning came after the #1MDBMovies hashtag recently trended on Twitter, where users changed movie titles to parody 1MDB that is facing a huge debt burden of RM42 billion and is under investigation by the authorities, after the Wall Street Journal claimed that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) from the state-owned fund ended up in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts just two months before the 13th general election.
“Wow, M’sia is turning into North Korea!” Twitter user @J4Malaysia tweeted in response.
Twitter user @JamesJSChai said parodies and memes of 1MDB were merely a coping mechanism, even as the ringgit recently fell to a 16-year low and living costs rose after the implementation of the unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST).
“Ok, fine, let's get serious then, where the f*** was the money?” he tweeted.
Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan tweeted, “Wow. Madness”, and pointed out that 1MDB can sue if the company is unhappy with what people say.
“Why must the State's resources be used to protect it from criticisms and ridicule?” Syahredzan tweeted from his @syahredzan account.
News portal Cilisos simply tweeted, “oh boy. <deletes every featured image we've ever done>”.
Other Twitter users lampooned MCMC’s warning, with @AdrianNCF tweeting: “#1MDB War$: The Empire $trikes Back #1MDBmovies”, referring to “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”.
Popular movie titles lampooned under #1MDBMovies included “Honey I Shrunk The Ringgit” (Honey, I Shrunk The Kids), “The Wolf of Wall Street Journal” (The Wolf of Wall Street), “Forty-two Billion Shades Of Debt” (Fifty Shades of Grey) and “I Know What You Did Last Election” (I Know What You Did Last Summer).
Some movie posters were also altered under #1MDBMovies, such as Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” that shows Najib instead of Jordan Belfort and the altered title, “The Wolf of Wall Street Journal”, together with an 18-rating saying: “Contains High Corruption”.
Another movie poster of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” features Najib instead of Frodo Baggins looking at the One Ring in his hand and the altered title, “The Lord of the Ringgits: The Fellowship of 1MDB”, together with a sentence: “The disappearance of RM42b”.
Malaysians have previously been arrested for making parodies or insults on social media, with a 24-year-old arrested under the Sedition Act last September for allegedly being behind a parody Facebook page, “Persatuan Kongsi Gelap Melayu” (The Malay Triads Society), while a car salesman was arrested that month after allegedly describing two police officers as “monkey” on Facebook.
A Twitter user was also charged last September under Section 504 of the Penal Code, which prohibits insults that intend to break the public peace, after likening on Twitter Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to Nazi military commander Heinrich Himmler from Nazi Germany then.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/marina-mahathir-jails-will-be-full-if-crime-to-lampoon-1mdb-news#sthash.FlKvINUG.dpuf
BESTFBKL ; In my opinion MCMC notice is ridiculous and it seem they have overstepped their boundaries. We are not a police state. 1MDB is a matter of public interest , if anyone feels they have been given the short end of the stick they can take the matter to court. Since when does MCMC get involved in company matters like 1MDB
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