PARLIAMENT Malaysia will not follow in the footsteps of China by setting up firewalls to block people from surfing Facebook , WhatsApps and other social media, Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has pledged.

"The ministry has no intention to block the social media, Facebook and other platform providers, such as Telegram, WhatsApps and others as a large portion of Malaysians are using these facilities to communicate and do business," Salleh said.

As of September this year, 1,638 complaints related to the abuse of the social media were received by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), he said.

Thirty-five cases, including cases of insulting the royalty and religion, were taken to court under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 by MCMC from 2009 to 2015, Salleh ( photo ) said in a parliamentary written reply yesterday.

He was responding to Zainuddin Ismail (BN-Jelebu), who asked if the government would set up firewalls, as is done in China, to block certain social media platforms and messaging applications.

This year alone, MCMC has taken 14 cases to court, of which 11 were convicted, while three cases are still on trial, he said.

Salleh said spreading allegations through the internet was also monitored by the police under several laws, including the Defamation Act, Sedition Act and the Penal Code.

Not a crackdown...

The pledge not to block social media is in line with previous comments by Salleh regarding proposed amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act as well as the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Act.

He had said the amendments, which are expected to be tabled in Parliament either during this session or at the next session, was not aimed at cracking down on social media.

However, the amendments could grant the MCMC more authority over blogs and news portals.