Now, UtusanTV site blocked as well

Access to another news portal has been restricted, the latest such incident since similar blocks were experienced by MalaysiaNow and Malaysia Today some two months ago.

News portal UtusanTV, which has 2.9 million followers on TikTok, has been inaccessible to most readers since this morning.

UtusanTV is operated by Utusan Binders Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of Utusan Group.

This comes some two weeks after a blog run by former MP Wee Choo Keong was also blocked in a move later attributed to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Checks by MalaysiaNow through pings to www.utusantv.com show a DNS, or domain name server block, of the site, which is redirecting readers to 175.139.142.25, an IP address belonging to MCMC.

The restrictions affect users of at least two internet service providers in the country: Maxis and Unifi.

When contacted, UtusanTV editor-in-chief Zulkefli Hamzah said he had contacted MCMC for confirmation.

"We have already contacted MCMC and the communications and digital ministry and are awaiting an explanation," he said.