Lawyer Fails Court Challenge Against Mcmc Over Blocked Fb Post

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The George Town High Court today dismissed Shamsher Singh Thind's application for leave to initiate judicial review against the regulator's block request to Facebook's holding company Meta.
In a Facebook post today, Shamsher (above) confirmed the civil court dismissed his bid linked to last year's controversy surrounding Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti), a firm co-owned by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s husband.
"The High Court did not allow my application to challenge the decision of MCMC to send a legal request to Facebook, which resulted in the restriction of my post on Yeoh's husband's company in Malaysia.
"The reason is not because the legal request is justified or because l was wrong in writing the post, but because, according to the AGC (Attorney-General's Chambers acting for MCMC), it was only a request, and not a decision susceptible to judicial review.
"So, in Malay (language), there is a proverb, ‘baling batu sembunyi tangan’. That is exactly what MCMC has done here. They can't even come to court to justify their actions.
"I am not appealing as l do not see any error in the court's judgment. Even the AGC's request for cost was denied by the judge," Shamsher said.
Hannah YeohLast year when speaking to Malaysiakini, Shamsher hit back at MCMC, asking what was untrue and confusing about his blocked posting.
He accused MCMC of untruth in claiming the post violated Meta’s guidelines, saying the social media platform only restricts posts in countries based on local law.
“What is the problem with my post here?
“What is confusing? My post was very simple,” he said.
This came after MCMC claimed that Shamsher’s FB post on May 26 last year had violated Meta community guidelines.
In another posting last year, the lawyer referred to Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching, noting how she had defended Yeoh over calls for the latter to resign, and asked the deputy minister if she was using MCMC to silence critics of her colleague.
In a statement to Malaysiakini, the commission said the action was taken in accordance with the standard operating procedure based on complaints regarding the posting, which it claimed contained “untrue and confusing” elements.
‘I posed reasonable question’
Shamsher said he only asked a question and did not make any accusations in his post.
The question was reasonable considering Teo’s recent and publicly made defence of Yeoh, he added.
He pointed out that his post would have been deleted and his account would have received a ban if he had truly violated Meta’s community guidelines, drawing on his previous experience of being banned on Facebook.
“You cannot say that I violated the law.
“The action taken by the MCMC to restrict my freedom of speech and expression is equivalent to me being punished,” he said.
Asia Mobiliti was appointed as one of the two companies to run the Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) programme, a bus-on-demand trial pilot project, for nine months.
Yeoh was accused of alleged nepotism in the matter.
On May 29 last year, Teo reportedly said that calls for Yeoh to resign over the matter were “unfair”, adding that it was too early for the latter to do so.
Asia Mobiliti, whose other co-founder is director and former Malaysiakini CEO Pramesh Chandran, said everything was done above board and it is considering legal action against those casting aspersions about the appointment process.
‘Landmark decision’
In a media statement released following the court ruling, Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung hailed it as a landmark decision on digital sovereignty.
The PKR national communications director lauded judge Anand Ponnudurai for setting an important precedent in digital sovereignty and jurisdiction.
Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean ChungLee pointed out the judge found the decision to block was made by Facebook, and that MCMC had only issued a request for action against the post.
He noted the court’s finding that MCMC’s action was not a “decision” that it could review, making it clear that social media platforms are the final arbiters in content moderation.
“This is an important decision to take note of as we move forward in the uncharted territory that is the digital ecosystem.
“I urge members of the public to be aware of the importance of local jurisdictions and digital sovereignty,” Lee said. - Mkini

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