MCA rejects MCMC demand
PETALING JAYA: MCA will not bow to a legal demand from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for Pahang MCA Youth chief Wong Siew Mun to issue a formal apology, stressing that freedom of speech must not be suppressed.
Party president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said MCA held an urgent meeting and unanimously agreed that MCMC's demands were unreasonable and unacceptable.
'MCA stands firmly behind Wong. We uphold the principle that freedom of expression must not be curtailed or compromised.
'We also believe she acted appropriately,' Dr Wee said in a TikTok post yesterday.
He said Wong had received a legal letter on Thursday from a law firm representing MCMC, demanding that she remove a TikTok video on freedom of speech; issue a public apology, subject to MCMC's approval, within 24 hours; and provide a written undertaking not to repeat similar statements on any platform.
Failure to comply, the letter warned, would lead to civil action.
Calling the demands excessive, Dr Wee said MCA had assembled a legal team, including prominent human rights lawyer Edmund Bon, to represent Wong.
He reaffirmed MCA's long- standing stance on safeguarding civil liberties, especially the right to express opinions without undue interference or intimidation.
On June 18, Wong was summoned by police over comments she made about the government's collection of mobile phone data.
She is being investigated for allegedly causing public alarm and misusing network facilities.
The investigation centres on a TikTok post dated June 6, in which Wong questioned MCMC's move to collect mobile phone data from telecommunications providers.
The remarks triggered an investigation under Section 505 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Wong defended her statements, saying they were based on reports by mainstream media and official statements from a minister as well as a government agency confirming the data collection.
MCMC has clarified that the Mobile Phone Data Collection Initiative gathers only anonymised data such as the Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number, mobile country codes and GPS coordinates of telco towers.
It does not include personally identifiable information such as names, identity card numbers or phone numbers.
However, the clarification has done little to ease concerns.
Dr Wee previously questioned the extent of data being collected, warning that detailed records of calls, IP addresses and time-stamped location data could still compromise personal privacy.
He said while MCMC stated the data is intended for policymaking in the information and communication technology and tourism sectors, the need to collect such detailed information still raises serious privacy red flags.
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