MCMC blocks Sugarbook website after renewed scrutiny
The Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has blocked access to the website of online dating service Sugarbook today, less than a day after it said it was investigating the platform.
This came after a press release from the service regarding its membership drew renewed scrutiny...
The Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has blocked access to the website of online dating service Sugarbook today, less than a day after it said it was investigating the platform.
This came after a press release from the service regarding its membership drew renewed scrutiny.
The service’s website has been found to be inaccessible through some Internet service providers, while other providers would instead display the standard MCMC notification that states: “This website is not available in Malaysia as it violate(s) the national law(s)”.
Thus far, the MCMC has yet to issue any statement regarding the block.
Its phone application, meanwhile, can still be downloaded from app stores.
Sugarbook offers dating services between younger women and older men, but there have been concerns that relationships matched on the platform were transactional.
Last week, it issued a press release claiming that it has seen an increase in university students signing up as “sugar babies” since January, and ranked the “top 10 sugar baby universities” in Malaysia.
The Higher Education Ministry described Sugarbook’s claims as improbable and vowed to tackle the issue.
MCMC, meanwhile, issued a statement this morning that it was investigating Sugarbook and would take action against both the platform and its users if they were found to violate the law.
The police would also take action if elements of prostitution were involved, it added.
Sugarbook had previously attracted controversy in 2019 after its electronic billboard advertisement was displayed in Kuala Lumpur.
This had prompted the removal of the advertisement and calls for the service to be shut down, but the public outcry soon died out with the service still readily accessible.
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