SHAH ALAM, Oct 23 — The Online Safety Bill which the government will table in the Dewan Rakyat soon aims to curb criminal activities on social media, rather than restricting freedom of expression.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil explained that it will also ensure social media platform operators are more proactive in curbing criminal activities on their respective platforms to avoid facing action.

"Our right to speak is enshrined in the Federal Constitution, which is the highest law in the country, so any law related to the issue of freedom of speech cannot go beyond the Constitution.

"Our main intention in introducing the bill is not to curb the voice of the people, but to curb the behaviour of criminals who are manipulating and taking advantage especially on social media to commit crimes,” he said.

He told a press conference after delivering a lecture at the Ministerial Lecture Series Programme entitled "Digital Security Literacy” organised by the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies (FKPM), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam, here, today.

Fahmi said that while there are efforts to guarantee cheaper internet services, wider and faster coverage, the introduction of the bill is also very important in ensuring its use is safer, especially for children and family members.

He said even though the Madani government is determined to defend the people’s right to speak, it cannot allow criminals to take the opportunity to destroy the country’s heritage and continue to carry out criminal activities on social media platforms.

Fahmi said the government takes seriously four criminal activities such as scams, online gambling, cyberbullying and materials on sexual crimes against children which are now rapidly moving to social media sites as a platform to carry out these prohibited activities.

"For the past year, the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department said Malaysians lost RM432 million due to scams on Facebook alone...it is the biggest and most misused platform by criminals for scam activities.

"But Facebook is very weak and slow in taking any action to prevent, and they seem to be waiting for the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) or public complaints, while they have a duty of care to ensure that their platform is safe to use, crime-free, especially scams,” he said.

Fahmi said the government also took several other actions including amending the Penal Code to redefine the definition of ‘Mule Account’ which is often used by scammers to channel stolen money, defining the crime of bullying and cyber bullying, as well as amending the Communications and Multimedia Act.

"One of the reasons why the government took such steps and brought the Online Safety Bill to Parliament in the near future is to see that online safety issues can be addressed more comprehensively, particularly involving the four main criminal activities that are rapidly moving to social media,” he said.

Previously, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal and Institutional Reforms) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said was reported to have refuted claims by some that the bill would nullify democracy by empowering the government to take down any information from social media platforms.

Azalina assured the bill that she will present with its implementation and enforcement under the Ministry of Communications through the MCMC will not restrict freedom of expression. — Bernama