COMMENT | Anwar executes Mahathir's regulation bucket list

COMMENT | Since Pakatan Harapan returned to Putrajaya in November 2022 by forming a coalition government with BN, its achievements have been arguable.

When it comes to policing social media, however, Harapan’s zeal surpasses that of BN, Perikatan Nasional, and even former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Looking back at the evolution of the internet and online media in Malaysia, public access to internet services began in 1994.

In 1996, then prime minister Mahathir aggressively promoted the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and later promised “to ensure no censorship of the internet” in a Bill of Guarantees - a promise that was not part of the MSC’s original launch - before the Western information and communication technology giants in Los Angeles in January 1997.

However, the 1998 Asian financial crisis exacerbated internal flight within Umno, leading Mahathir to dismiss then deputy prime minister and finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, expelling him from Umno, and charging him with corruption and sodomy.

Anwar initiated the Reformasi movement then, which had two major impacts on internet services and online media in Malaysia.