Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has defended Putrajaya's censorship of medium.com , claiming that the website had broken Malaysian law.

Salleh said this when asked if blocking the whole of medium.com simply over an article by whistle-blower portal Sarawak Report was excessive.

"The decision to block medium.com was due to the fact it continued to carry false news that is detrimental to the national security of the country, even though a request to remove the said news item was issued to them.

"So, in short, medium.com broke the law," Salleh said in an email interview with Malaysiakini .

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has in recent months blocked several sites critical of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, including Sarawak Report .

However, the move to block the whole of medium.com, a reputable platform founded by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, is seen as taking things to a new level.

Tech site Endgadget noted that even China, which is notorious for its tight control on citizens, does not block medium.com.

The MCMC had taken issue with an article published by Sarawak Report on medium.com, titled 'Najib negotiates his exit but he wants safe passage and all the money'.

Sarawak Report , which has published stories alleging corruption by Najib, had resorted to publishing on medium.com after MCMC blocked its site last year.

'Tarnished confidence in country'

MCMC claimed that the story was "false, unsubstantiated and misleading" and said it "affected Malaysia's social stability, tarnished confidence in country's economy and undermined a democratically elected prime minister".

The MCMC subsequently blocked medium.com when the publishing platform requested for details to back the commission's claim.

Following the block, medium.com issued this following statement on Jan 27: "We’ve received no evidence that the post violates any of our rules, or any law.

"We stand by investigative journalists who publish on medium.com. Until we receive an order from a court of competent jurisdiction, the post stays up."

Salleh vowed that MCMC would continue to take action against those who "abuse" the Internet.

"This is to safeguard, and as a pre-emptive measure, avoid the social media and the Internet from being used to upload any forms of comments, requests or suggestions that are deemed obscene, offensive and false in nature with the intent to annoy or threaten another person," he said.

Salleh added that the Communications and Multimedia Ministry remains committed to adjusting existing laws to "encourage the positive use of the Internet".

MCMC will continue to take action against those who abuse the social media and the Internet.

"We want to send the right signal that the Internet should not be abused and freedom of the Internet is not without responsibility and that laws must be adhered to," Salleh added.

Salleh had previously indicated a tightening of laws regulating social media by the end of last year but the plan appears to have been delayed.

He did not provide a new timeline for these amendments.