Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad speaking to reporters outside KLCC today, February 26, 2016. ― Picture by Kamles Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 ― The blocking of news portals like The Malaysian Insider (TMI) shows that Malaysia is heading towards become a dictatorship like North Korea, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The former prime minister said the block on TMI yesterday by the government showed that they were afraid of the “truth”, and likened Malaysia to North Korea.

“It is going in that (North Korea) direction.The government is afraid that people might know the truth. That's why they have to block. It is to safeguard what they are doing. To hide what they are doing.

“They don't allow people to tell the people what is happening in the country,” he told reporters after launching an event at KLCC today.

Dr Mahathir added that while things might “not be very extreme” here for now but the situation might worsen soon.

“Maybe not very extreme but already people are afraid that they say something or do something against Datuk Seri Najib, you will be arrested, detained or charged in court,” he said.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has accused TMI of violating Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

MCMC did not specify how exactly TMI purportedly violated Section 233 and merely told news portals yesterday not to publish unverified news.

The police later said today that TMI’s chief editor would be called in for questioning over a news report on a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) panel, but did not specify which one.