SHAH ALAM, Oct 23 — The government has no immediate plans to develop a specific application like Truecaller as a step to enhance digital security and online safety, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He said this is because there are already a number of applications available in the market that can be utilised by users in the country for that purpose.

Furthermore, he said that any procurement related to information technology (IT) or digital tools must be decided by the National Digital Department under the Ministry of Digital.

"This is to ensure that the public expenditure is being done prudently and efficiently without waste. I took note of the suggestion to develop our own app, but there are several aspects that I will discuss later.”

Fahmis said this in response to a question from a student during the Ministerial Lecture Series on Digital Security Literacy organised by the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Faculty of Communication and Media Studies here today.

On social media security literacy in remote areas of Sabah and Sarawak, Fahmi said he has instructed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to immediately organise literacy programmes in those localities once internet facilities are made available.

He said that such programmes are crucial to ensure that internet facilities are used safely and that local communities do not fall victim to increasingly worrying online criminals.

The Ministerial Lecture Series was attended by over 500 students, as well as special guests including Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohamed Fauzi Md Isa, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin and editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj.

It was part of events lined up in conjunction with UiTM’s 25th anniversary as a university. — Bernama