PETALING JAYA: MCA has rejected a legal demand from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for Pahang MCA Youth chief Wong Siew Mun to issue a formal apology, stressing that freedom of speech must not be suppressed.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the party held an urgent meeting and unanimously agreed that MCMC’s demands were both unreasonable and unacceptable.
“MCA fully supports Wong Siew Mun. We firmly uphold the principle that freedom of expression must not be curtailed or compromised. We also believe she acted appropriately,” he said in a TikTok post on Friday (July 4).
Dr Wee said Wong had received a legal letter on Thursday from a law firm representing MCMC. The letter reportedly demanded that she take down a Bahasa Malaysia TikTok video on freedom of speech, issue a public apology within 24 hours—with the content subject to MCMC’s approval—and provide a written undertaking not to repeat similar comments on any social media platform. Failure to comply would result in civil legal action.
Describing the conditions as excessive, Dr Wee said MCA would provide full legal support to Wong. He added that the party had assembled a legal team, including human rights lawyer Edmund Bon, to represent her in all legal proceedings.
He reaffirmed MCA’s long-standing stance on safeguarding civil liberties, especially the right to express opinions without undue interference or intimidation.
On June 18, Wong was summoned by police over comments she made about the government’s collection of mobile phone data. She is being investigated for allegedly causing public alarm and misusing network facilities.
The investigation follows a TikTok post on 6 June, in which Wong questioned MCMC’s move to collect mobile phone data from telecommunications providers.
“The video I posted was based on facts reported by mainstream media and official statements made by a minister and a government agency confirming that mobile phone data is indeed being collected from telcos,” Wong said.
She is being investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, relating to causing public fear and misuse of network facilities.
Earlier, MCMC clarified that the Mobile Phone Data Collection Initiative involves only eight types of anonymised data from network providers. It does not include personally identifiable information such as names, identity card numbers, or phone numbers.
Instead, the data collected includes information such as the Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN), unique ID, mobile country code, and GPS coordinates of telco towers, among others.
The data collection had raised privacy concerns. Dr Wee had highlighted that the government’s efforts to collate detailed records of phone calls and internet usage from telecommunications firms are a violation of the people’s right concerning their personal data.
He questioned the necessity of such detailed information, especially when MCMC itself clarified that the data is intended for policymaking in the ICT and tourism sectors.
“This isn’t about trust in the current government. The real question is: why collect such detailed data on citizens?
“If you’re recording who we call, how long we speak, our IP addresses and precise locations—complete with time and date stamps—anyone with access could easily trace it back to our identities,” he had said.
@drweekasiong MCA akan terus mempertahankan hak dan kebebasan bersuara rakyat Malaysia sepertimana yang dijamin dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Tekanlah seteruk mana, ia sedikitpun tidak mematahkan semangat kami. Kami di MCA adalah #JurucakapRakyat #teamrakyat original sound – DrWeeKaSiong