M’sia legally wellequipped to address Internet abuse issues — Gobind

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has a broad legal system to address the negative issues arising from the increase in Internet usage in the country, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said yesterday.

He said that besides the regulations under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which handled various Internet abuse complaints, the other laws included the Penal Code which had detailed sections to address the matter.

“We have agencies implementing the existing laws. If there are complaints of abuse, for example, the MCMC has the jurisdiction to investigate the complaints. We often receive all kinds of complaints,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.

Gobind Singh was replying to a supplementary question, from Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PAS-Paser Puteh) on whether the government was formulating policy to address the negative issues arising from the expansion of the Internet service.

Replying to the original question, also from Nik Muhammad Zawawi, on a proposal to expand the free WiFi zones across the country, he said the federal government was ready to coordinate or assist telecommunications service providers and owners of business premises or certain zones such as hotels in the matter.

Gobind Singh also said that the ministry, through MCMC, had implemented a free WiFi initiative called the Community WiFi (WK) Programme aimed at bridging the telecommunications gap between the urban and rural areas.

He said the programme provided basic Internet access WiFi hotspots in underserved areas throughout the country since its introduction in 2011. Bernama