Fahmi was responding in the Dewan Rakyat to Radzi’s question whether the government had given specific instructions to block two of his TikTok posts.
Radzi claimed that geofencing was being used to restrict access to his posts to only users outside Malaysia. He added that many other accounts that “only explain the facts” had been taken down or blocked.
“Were there instructions from the government to block the matter in Malaysia, kind of like geofencing?
“Does freedom of speech only apply when the government of the day is on the opposition side, but now that it is the government, there is no more freedom of speech?” Radzi asked.
Fahmi: “I’ve checked and Putrajaya’s account is still there.”
Radzi: “I mean the contents on the ringgit. The account is there, but the content on the ringgit has been blocked.”
Fahmi: “I understand, but your account is still there. This means, if you want to keep making posts, it is not a problem. I see there is a post from yesterday with 177,000 views. The government is not blocking you.”
Radzi: “I was asking why the post about the ringgit cannot be viewed in Malaysia, but can be viewed outside the country. Has there been an instruction from the government to block access – I’m not talking about my account, but about the specific post.”
Fahmi: “Honestly, if there was no freedom of speech, your account would not be on this platform any more. Not just on TikTok, but on all social media platforms. So I feel that accusation is not true.”
Radzi: “He’s saying ‘accusation’. I am not accusing. I am talking about freedom of speech on that matter. Don’t twist. This is an example of how the government restricts freedom of speech. Answer about the ringgit. Don’t twist.”
Fahmi: “If we were blocking (freedom of speech), Putrajaya would not have an account. You can still continue (posting content).”
Radzi and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar) had last month also attacked the increasing censorship under the current government, with the latter claiming that censorship had increased by 40 times since the previous administration.
“When (Radzi’s post) hit two million views, it was made to disappear by an MCMC report under the Madani government. Is this a new government tactic when they cannot answer issues on the currency weakening, the rising cost of living and widespread corruption?
“They close the people’s mouths and eyes, and threaten them,” Syed Saddiq had said.
Today, Wan Saiful Wan Jan (PN-Tasek Gelugor) also asked Fahmi to explain who decided if certain posts on social media violated the law and what warranted their takedown.
“If a post violates the law, who is the arbiter of this said violation? Can the Malaysian government arbitrarily decide that a violation of the law has occurred when it has not gone through the legal process?”
Wan Saiful said Radzi’s TikTok posts on the ringgit had nothing to do with 3R (race, religion and royalty) matters that the government is cautious about.