Fahmi’s spoof clown warning angers MCMC
Even if it’s a parody, there’s a limit to it, says spokesman for internet regulator
PETALING JAYA: The communications commission has thrown a fit about dissident Fahmi Reza’s spoof warning about not spreading satirical images depicting the prime minister, Najib Razak, as a clown.
“Even if it’s a parody, there’s a limit to it,” said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s spokesman, Sheikh Raffie Abdul Rahman, who told Star Online that an investigation would be carried out.
Fahmi was reported to have posted the spoof notice online on Saturday, after which it quickly made the rounds. The spoof bears the MCMC logo and the clown image, and mock serious warning text. It is part of his campaign against the authorities’ use of the Sedition Act against dissident voices.
The clown image, posted previously on its own, had already attracted the attention of the police cyber crimes unit which issued Fahmi a formal notification that his Twitter account was under surveillance.
Undeterred, Fahmi released the satirical MCMC warning notice, with text warning the public against distribution of such images.
The mock warning read: “The public is warned against spreading edited pictures of the country’s leaders in the form of clowns like the picture above on social media including through the Whatsapp application. It is an offence to share or spread such contents as it is against the laws especially Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act. If convicted, offenders will be fined a maximum of RM50,000 and/or a year’s imprisonment.”
MCMC did not see the humour in it, with its spokesman Sheikh Raffie telling Star Online that the notice was “100 percent fake”.
“We never released such advisories. Especially in such a manner,” he was quoted as saying. He said an investigation would still be carried out even though Fahmi had stated it was a parody.
The police warning to Fahmi in January raised the anger of graphic artists, who have issued satirical and protest graphics of their own as part of a mass online campaign against the use of the Sedition Act on satire and parodies.
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