Communication and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek is facing mounting criticism for his proposal to study the banning of Facebook, with NGO Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) joining the fray.

Describing the move as going against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Cenbet committee member Woon King Chai added: "Such a statement runs in direct contradiction to Najib’s assurance, when he first took office, that the era of 'government knows best has ended'."

Describing Shabery's proposal as "regressive thinking", Woon said the desire to control information in a globally connected world was reminiscent of closed regimes.

"Information control, which is ultimately practised only in closed regimes, goes against transparency and accountability that Cenbet stands for," he said.

Woon said it was "unsettling" that Shabery would even consider a feasiblity study to shut down Facebook despite acknowledging that 15 million Malaysians were using the popular social media platform.

"The minister himself admitted that there are only some 2,000 complaints. The overwhelming majority of them do not break the law.

"Is the minister also suggesting that cars should be banned in Malaysia too because they cause road accidents and fatalities?" Woon asked.

He said Shabery would do better to divert resources of conducting studies to ban Facebook to enhance enforcement efforts against errant Facebook users.

He added the Shabery should work to make the Internet a safe space for responsible debate.

Last Sunday, DAP and MCA also hit out at Shabery for his suggestion to block Facebook.