KUALA LUMPUR – Police are investigating several social media posts allegedly made by local right-wing political commentator Ian Miles Cheong, which were supposedly meant to disrupt public peace.
Dang Wangi district police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya told Scoop that police had received a report against Perak-born Cheong on June 11, following which an investigation will be carried out under Section 504 of the Penal Code for intentional insult.
Police are also conducting investigations under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 on improper use of network facilities.
Yesterday, the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) held a press conference urging authorities to investigate a Malaysian individual “who depicts himself as a right-wing and pro-Zionist American political journalist”.
Claiming that the individual frequently spreads “white supremacist” and pro-Israel narratives via social media platform X, the non-governmental organisation also accused the individual, who has a “significant following” on X, of tax evasion.
While the non-governmental organisation had not named the individual in its statement to the media, Noor Dellhan confirmed with Scoop that the report filed by MHO was against Cheong.
According to checks by Scoop on the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Offshore Leaks Database, Ian Miles Cheong Wen Xian is named as the director of a British Virgin Islands company, Cyber Level Ltd, which was incorporated in 2007 and is believed to still be active.
This is not the first time Cheong has courted controversy.
In February, Malaysian netizens called for the Communications Ministry to take action against the social media personality due to his pro-Israel posts.
Cheong had later told the New Straits Times that he has “consistently” voiced support for peace between Israel and Palestine.
“My views on the matter have been very nuanced, contrary to the regurgitated baseless claims about my past from unreliable far left-wing and transgender sources who have been literally trolling me for years due to my conservative views,” he was quoted as saying.
A quick scroll through Cheong’s X account, where he has more than 1 million followers, shows that most of his posts centre on discourse on American and European issues, with a notable lack of commentary on Malaysian politics or local topics.
For the record, Cheong was previously reported to be affiliated with Rebel News, a right-leaning pro-Israeli Canadian news organisation. He is also said to be a former contributor to Russia’s government-funded news channel, RT. – June 15, 2024