The Malaysian government is considering tabling a bill that would require online news portals to register themselves with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). The proposal could be made as soon as October.
Newly appointed Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said that he has been meeting with MCMC officials to study the proposals. “We are also looking at the structural aspects of MCMC and at amendments to tackle issues such as pornography, online gambling and Islamic State (IS) threats, among others. This is being done in the national interest,” said Dr Salleh in an interview with The Star yesterday.
Among the proposals being considered are increasing the powers of MCMC to allow it to block sites deemed as “threats to national security and stability”, similar to the model implemented in Singapore.
However, Dr Salleh gave the assurance that the Government had no plans to restrict the usage of social media. He also claimed that the changes had nothing to do with the 1MDB issues, and were instead brought up to face developments with technology.
[Source: The Star]
