PARLIAMENT The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is investigating 167 cases of Internet and social media abuse from last year until Feb 1 this year, said the Communications and Multimedia Ministry.

According to MCMC, the cases which were being investigated under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 included those involving false content and information spread through WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.

In a written reply at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today, the MCMC also said that during the same period, 1,375 websites had been blocked due to the false content.

It was responding to an oral question from William Mawan Ikom (BN-Saratok) who asked the ministry what measures were the government taking to curb the spread of unverified or false information through the social media.

In reply to a question from Anyi Ngau (BN-Baram) on the ministry’s plan to provide communications facilities through the handphone to all villages in the Baram district in Sarawak, the ministry said 33 new communication towers had been built and activated in the area.

Two more were due to be completed by the second quarter of this year while four existing ones have been upgraded to provide 3G mobile broadband services in the parliamentary constituency.

- Bernama