Internet Censorship Update: Blocking of tanahmalaya.com

9th March 2026, On March 5 2026, a user on our Volunteers of Internet Censorship Telegram group reported that TanahMalaya.com has been reportedly blocked. The website is a data portal collecting land ownership information, including places of worship.  

As of 9 March, data on OONI (Open Observatory Network Interference) indicates that blocking occurred on networks run by at least 5 Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which redirected users to a server maintained by MCMC. This would have resulted in users facing difficulties in accessing the website. The ISPs are:

• TM (AS4788)
• Maxis (AS9534)
• TIME (AS9930)
• Digi (AS4818)
• YTL (AS45960)

Source: OONI Explorer 

The data on OONI was collected through the OONI Probe App by Sinar Project and various volunteers. A confirmed blocking on OONI shows that the website has been blocked by DNS tampering, with the DNS redirecting to MCMC’s IP address: 175.139.142.25. Note that this method is different from DNS hijacking, which was reversed in 2024. 

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Malaysian government, through MCMC, be more transparent in these cases of internet censorship. MCMC should actively publish block notices or block lists and be transparent about the standard operating procedure (SOP) in making orders for blocking websites or new methods of censorship. This includes holding the ISPs accountable when implementing these orders.

Call for testing

Sinar Project is calling for volunteers to help with the continuous monitoring and testing of internet censorship using OONI. You may test by downloading the OONI Probe App on mobile or desktop. Further information can be found in our Telegram group.