Another site critical of govt blocked

Another website critical of the government has been blocked, a month after access to news portal MalaysiaNow and the Malaysia Today blog was restricted for a large number of readers. 

The latest site, http://weechookeong.com/, is a blog run by former Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong, who is known for his vocal criticism of the links between big businesses and politicians as well as revelations of corruption in Malaysia's financial sector.

The block, discovered by Wee last night, was confirmed today through a message from the server host which said the site was being blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). 

"Based on the attachment, the ping result to weechookeong.com is showing IP address of 175.139.142.25," it said. 

"This means that the website has been blocked by MCMC."

It added that the users of some internet service providers (ISPs) would still be able to access the website as MCMC implements blocking in phases. 

As of press time, the site was inaccessible to users of at least two major ISPs: Maxis and Unifi.

Wee, a former MP for DAP and PKR, meanwhile said on Twitter that "Big Brother Fahmi is watching us."

"We are now living in the era of Mad Dah Ni!" he added, a play on the government's catchphrase of Madani. 

MCMC, the country's internet regulator, is empowered to instruct ISPs to block "undesirable" websites. In the past, such blocks were extended to news portals and websites critical of the government.

MalaysiaNow was blocked for 48 hours from June 27 to 29. 

Aides to Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil, who helms the ministry in charge of MCMC, denied any knowledge of or responsibility for the incident, while Fahmi himself was reported as saying that no instructions were given for the block of any news portal. 

Further messages seeking clarification from him went unanswered, while MCMC has likewise failed to respond to repeated queries from MalaysiaNow.

The episode in June was the first time in many years that a news portal with official media accreditation had been blocked, after the access ban on news portal The Malaysian Insider in 2016, believed to be over its coverage of the 1MDB scandal.

The server host of http://weechookeong.com/ said MCMC usually blocks websites due to prohibited content, adding that such issues fall outside of its support. 

"Therefore, I would highly recommend that you contact MCMC directly for further information and clarification regarding the blocking," it said.