KUALA LUMPUR: The government is practising autocracy and not democracy, claims Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Perikatan Nasional chairman said this became apparent after PH took power in the 15th General Election (GE15) when the start began controlling the narrative on social media.
"When I became prime minister, they threw various accusations against me and the Perikatan Nasional government.
"Never once did I direct MCMC or TikTok to block people's videos or posts on social media. That is our principle in governing the country.
"The government cannot act at will to restrict the freedom of the people unless they commit an offence under the law.
"We don't just talk about democracy, but we practise democracy. They talk about democracy, but practise autocracy," he said in his keynote speech at the Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs and Assemblymen Convention, here, today.
He alleged that the government was restricting freedom on social media as there was a chronic trust deficit in the government.
"They don't want the people to criticise the government because of their weaknesses and make them even more unpopular.
"That's why lately social media is strictly controlled. For example, the Putrajaya MP's TikTok video about the fall in the value of the ringgit, which reached millions of views, was blocked.
"Why should it be blocked? Aren't they the most vocal advocates for media freedom?
"They said that they are fighting for democracy and human rights. Why when they are the government of the day, they greedily use power to restrict freedom? Turns out, they are all hypocrites," he said.