Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo questioned if the department’s Director-General Sakib Kusmi had the authority to do so.

“This is a clear abuse of power … To use his position to stop people from leaving the country,” he said during the debate on the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Bill 2015 in the Dewan Rakyat.

He said the ban went against the Federal Constitution which guarantees the right to freedom of expression.

Meanwhile, N. Surendran (PKR-Padang Serai ) said the ban makes the country look “undemocratic”

He said people have the right to criticise, ridicule or even resort to satire in a parliamentary democracy.

“What is not allowed is violence. That needs to be criminalised,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.

An English daily today reported that those found to have discredited or ridiculed the government can be barred from travelling overseas for three years.