KUALA LUMPUR, July 18, 2024 – The Ministry of Communications is working closely with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Department (Minister of Law and Institutional Reforms), and the Ministry of Digital in efforts to address the issue of cyberbullying.
According to its Minister, Fahmi Fadzil, in the Dewan Rakyat, Parliament today, a meeting on Cyberbullying Issues was held on July 10 and 17, 2024.
“The meeting on July 17, 2024, was co-chaired by me, the Honorable Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms), the Honorable Minister of Home Affairs, and the Honorable Minister of Digital, and was also attended by the Honorable Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms), representatives from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the Legal Affairs Division, the Prime Minister’s Department, and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In this meeting, several matters were discussed including regulatory aspects, enforcement aspects, legal aspects, and issues that may involve the wording related to the proceedings of cases in court.
However, we will present to the Cabinet the results of what we discussed yesterday,” said Fahmi.
Fahmi added that currently, sections 503 and 509 of the Penal Code [Act 574], which are criminal intimidation and words or gestures intended to insult the modesty of a person, as well as section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 [Act 588], which is the improper use of network facilities or network services, among others, are examples of existing provisions that can be applied to handle offenses related to cyberbullying, depending on the form of bullying conducted.
At the same time, yesterday’s meeting will also examine the need to draft new laws in line with current requirements and also we see changes in the way people communicate in the future (future) may be different so it also needs to be future proof,” explained Fahmi.
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