The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said the post “was perceived as an attempt to defame a specific individual who is a federal minister and was not intended to foster healthy discussion, discourse, or debate”.

The commission was responding to a letter of demand from lawyer Shamsher Singh Thind over the MCMC’s request for Facebook to block the post, which was about the company co-owned by the husband of Hannah Yeoh, the youth and sports minister.

In the posting on May 26, Shamsher wrote: “Congratulations DAP and Hannah Yeoh. Open tender is the way. Tapi dalam kes suami Hannah, tak ada tender, jadi apa yang di-opennya?”

MCMC said Shamsher’s post came at a time when there were several other posts on Facebook containing derogatory remarks “aimed at disturbing and bullying” Yeoh in cyberspace.

MCMC also claimed that Shamsher did not attempt to cross-check with “publicly available information”, despite statements made by communications minister Fahmi Fadzil and Selangor executive councillor Ng Sze Han on May 29.

At the time, Fahmi said no contract was awarded to the company, which brands itself as Asia Mobiliti, while Ng confirmed that the company along with Badanbas Coach Sdn Bhd had been approved for a demand-responsive transit system.

MCMC said that “despite the availability of this information (Shamsher) made no attempt to correct or update the post and allowed its publication to remain continuous on Facebook.”

The Selangor government’s selection of Asia Mobiliti gave rise to queries about possible preferential treatment and conflict of interest. Asia Mobiliti’s CEO is M Ramachandran, Yeoh’s husband.

MCMC added that Facebook owner Meta’s decision to block Shamsher’s post was based on assessment of its legal and fundamental human rights aspects.

The commission also said its monitoring of social media was carried out independently, without any influence from external entities, including the communications ministry.