Kuala Lumpur: The High Court here has dismissed a lawyer’s bid to initiate judicial review proceedings against the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) over a restriction placed on his Facebook post in 2024. The ruling was made by Judge Datuk Anand Ponnudurai.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, counsel A. Srimurugan, who represented the lawyer, Dr. Shamsher Singh Thind, stated that the court ruled the decision to remove Shamsher Singh’s post was made by Facebook and not MCMC, making it ineligible for judicial review. The judge determined that MCMC’s action was not a ‘decision’ subject to court review, as it merely issued a request for action, leaving the final decision to Facebook.

‘The judge said social media platforms have the final say in content moderation, even when prompted by regulators such as MCMC,’ said the lawyer when contacted. On June 4, Shamsher Singh filed a leave application for a judicial review to quash an administrative request that resulted in his Facebook post being blocked for Malaysian users in May 2024.

In his application, he claimed that MCMC had violated his freedom of speech by blocking the post. He also sought a court declaration that the regulator’s actions were illegal and requested that MCMC withdraw its ‘directive’ to Facebook, which called for the post to be blocked.