Telegram abuse: Minister wants engagement for now, not ban

The Communications and Digital Ministry has summoned Telegram social media provider over abuses of the platform to spread pornography, extremism and scam activities, among others.

Its minister Fahmi Fadzil said at a town hall programme last night that at this juncture, they are hoping to hold a positive engagement with the provider to get their cooperation in addressing the issue.

"Yes, we are summoning Telegram. We saw that Telegram is somewhat problematic. All kinds of information are fed through the platform.

“Even scamming activities are rife. But at the same time, we also appreciate that it is a platform to send information to the public.

"So we need to have a closer look at this issue. Whatever it is, we have to summon Telegram to hold discussions, especially in (assisting) the authorities’ efforts to address issues of scammers, pornographic materials, religious extremism and others.

"This is a real problem which needs to be addressed and it will be addressed immediately," Fahmi told reporters at a presser after the programme.

Earlier in his speech, Fahmi (above) touched on the issue of online security. He said the government would not compromise with the abuse of social media and network platforms by unscrupulous parties to scam the public and spread illegal materials such as pornography.

He said the government planned to call up the platform providers to give them a warning that such content being spread via their channels is against Malaysia's laws.

Asked to elaborate further on whether the ministry would consider taking strict action, including a possible ban against Telegram and other providers found allowing illegal content to be spread on their platforms, Fahmi told reporters that they hope it would not reach that extent.

"That is not something we are considering at this point. We want to have a positive and constructive engagement session, so we want to meet with them first," he stressed.

Personal data protection

In answering a question at the town hall event, Fahmi announced that the government plans to amend the Personal Data Protection Act to provide better protection.

He said the amendment would compel companies that handle data in Malaysia to give a “compulsory breach notice” whenever a data leakage happens.

"We found that there are some parties which do not care much about how they protect people's data.

"Last year, there was one company that handles the online payment. It experienced a breach but only announced it three months after it happened.

"This cannot happen again. So we plan to make a compulsory breach notice, where companies will be required to issue a notice whenever a data leak occurs," he said.

On another issue, Fahmi said he would look into improving the government's engagement with the media.

He said the new administration respects the media’s role as the fourth estate, and he wants to make sure that media practitioners would have better access to members of the administration.

"...this is so that the channel of information is clear and no problem arises in delivering information," Fahmi said.

According to the minister, he would hold more engagement sessions with media personnel and he also plans to have discussions with chief editors to get their feedback.

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