With AFN law on its way out, ministry mulls ways to address social media abuse
With the controversial Anti-Fake News Act 2018 set to be repealed in the upcoming Dewan Rakyat sitting, the Communications and Multimedia Ministry is exploring mechanisms to address misinformation and abuse on social media.
Before any decisions are made, it is considering using a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to study the different regulatory models used by other countries.
With the controversial Anti-Fake News Act 2018 set to be repealed in the upcoming Dewan Rakyat sitting, the Communications and Multimedia Ministry is exploring mechanisms to address misinformation and abuse on social media.
Before any decisions are made, it is considering using a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to study the different regulatory models used by other countries.
Speaking to the press today, its minister Gobind Singh Deo opined that having such a committee would enable public consultation through events like town halls.
“I think there is a general concern that there is a need for us to find a way by which we can deal with the problem of social media abuse.
“I have been listening to many different views and one of the suggestions is that we suggest a PSC be set up for that purpose, with very clear terms of reference.
“I will consider that as well, because I think through that mechanism it might facilitate a process by which where we will be able to get views from all Malaysians across the country,” he said after participating in a dialogue entitled “Towards Media Freedom and Combating Fake News in Malaysia” at Sunway University in Petaling Jaya.
Thus far, he said he had considered social media regulatory models adopted by Germany, Finland and Ireland.
Social Media Commission?
Stressing that no decisions had been made, Gobind said that he is also mulling the idea of an independent Social Media Commission.
In his mind, commissioners would advise the authorities on what was considered appropriate content for social media. They would also take into account any complaints and appeals.
“It’s important that one, there is a mechanism by which complaints that are made in respect of postings which are offensive can be dealt with quickly.
“And the party aggrieved by the decision (of the commission) to act on such a posting also has an avenue by which that person can be heard.
“This whole structure will not be, in any way, seen to be controlled by the government, it has to hinge of independence as well,” he suggested.
At present, the MCMC regulates a wide range of media including telecommunications, broadcast media and online platforms.
'Why is Harapan pandering to extremists?'
Earlier during the dialogue, Gobind cautioned that faster broadband speeds meant the authorities were challenged with figuring out how to minimise the harmful effects of social media on society.
Not only would the mechanism need to be able to handle the large and proliferating nature of online content, but it would also need to operate across different social media platforms and languages.
It would further need to be able to accurately identify false information from the facts.
During the question-and-answer segment, several audience members raised concerns that Pakatan Harapan was not doing enough to address the rise in divisive racial religious sentiments, especially on social media.
Royal Selangor founder Yong Poh Kon commented that the national narrative on issues had been “hijacked” by such voices because the government did not communicate or “market” their initiatives effectively enough.
Similarly, think-tank Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) director Ramon Navaratnam opined that urgent measures needed to employed against those who made “intimidating” racial and religious statements.
“We don’t need to wait for any select committee to do this,” he said.
Lawyer and activist Siti Kasim decried Harapan for “pandering” to online outrage by deciding against its original plan to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) and the Rome Statute.
Gobind noted their concerns.
Meanwhile, the minister promised that he will be following up with the recently launched National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) every six months and foresaw that it would be completed before its five-year target.
He also revealed that as of mid-Sept, broadband prices in the country had almost halved (49 percent) on average while broadband speeds in some areas were now ten times faster than before the government announced its “double the speed, half the price” initiative to improve Internet connectivity nationwide.
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