Wisma Putra today said the decision to block access to The Malaysian Insider (TMI) was to fulfill the government's responsibility in maintaining "peace, stability and harmony", responding to criticism by the United States yesterday urging Malaysia to respect free flow of information on the Internet.
"While Malaysia upholds freedom of speech and right to information, such freedom and right must be exercised responsibly and with accountability.
"The government of Malaysia has a responsibility to maintain peace, stability and harmony in the country and to safeguard the multiracial and multicultural values, norms and practices in Malaysia," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement tonight.
Washington yesterday said it was troubled by the move to block access to TMI and other critical websites, as well as the series of criminal investigations against journalists and social media users.
"The United States and Malaysia have built a strong comprehensive partnership, through which we hope to expand our cooperation on a range of shared challenges," the State Department said in a statement yesterday.
"In that context, we urge the government of Malaysia to ensure that all its laws, existing and future, fully respect freedom of expression, including the free flow of ideas on the Internet."
In its response, Wisma Putra said it was sincere in building "a progressive and dynamic partnership in a wide area of cooperation" between the two countries.
"Malaysia believes that the United States shares and reciprocates this sentiment. Malaysia also believes that the bilateral ties could be further strengthened to greater heights through closer cooperation and better understanding of the domestic issues in Malaysia," the statement added.
On February 25, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) instructed local Internet service providers to block access to TMI citing "national security".
This was followed by the police and MCMC calling up TMI editor Jahabar Sadiq and four other editors, over a report which quoted a source in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's oversight committee, as saying that there was evidence to charge Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the financial scandals involving SRC International Sdn Berhad and the RM2.6 billion political donation in the prime minister's bank accounts. – March 3, 2016.
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