KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar today brushed off a campaign to ban him on Twitter, saying 126,000 other police officers would take over policing the social media site in his stead.
He told those behind the campaign to go ahead with their efforts, adding that Malaysian police will continue monitoring Twitter and other social networks despite the complaints.
“I don’t have a problem if they want to ban me from Twitter. If I’m banned, there are 126,000 others who will monitor it,” he told reporters during celebrations for the 208th Police Day here today.
Two days ago, an anti-Sedition Act group launched a Twitter campaign against Khalid, calling on users to report the national police chief for online abuse.
On its Facebook page, Gerakan Hapus Akta Hasutan uploaded a step-by-step guide on how to lodge reports of harassment against the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) over his orders on the social networking site for police to investigate users over their tweets on current issues.
“Twitter’s Rules and Policies clearly state users ‘may not engage in targeted abuse or harassment’ and it takes into account if ‘the reported behaviour is one-sided or includes threats’. The IGP has violated these rules and in banning him, Twitter will be making its platform safer for Malaysians to freely express themselves without fear of persecution by the chief of police,” the group said.
Since Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy conviction last month, Khalid and his police force have engaged in an apparent crackdown on dissent by lawyers, politicians and social activist movements.
These include directives to question civil liberties lawyer Michelle Yesudas over a tweet expressing her concerns following rape threats against radio presenter Aisyah Tajuddin, whom Khalid also ordered to be investigated along with other BFM employees over a video on hudud Islamic penal law.
The IGP has also used Twitter to direct investigations under the Sedition Act 1948 against opposition lawmakers Tony Pua and Nga Kor Ming from the DAP as well as PKR’s Rafizi Ramli from PKR
Others targeted over tweets were cartoonist Zulkiflee SM Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, and Lawyers for Liberty director Eric Paulsen.
GHAH previously told the IGP that it is not a crime to question authorities such as the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, the police or the judiciary, saying that such discourse is an “integral part of a democratic society and a right enshrined in the Federal Constitution”.
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