Fahmi: Cabinet approves review of penalties under Communications and Multimedia Act

PUTRAJAYA, March 8 — The Cabinet today agreed to review the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 that was nearly three decades old to meet current economic conditions, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said.

He said this is to ensure the penalties available under the law would be seen as deterrent.

“In today’s meeting, the Cabinet gave approval in principle to the efforts of the Ministry of Communications to re-examine the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, a continuation of the policy that was decided around August 2022 before the dissolution of the 14th Parliament.

“Overall, the telecommunications industry has seen considerable growth since this Act was enacted in 1998. So one of the first focuses in terms of the industry is on some technical issues as well as any fines that may be imposed on violations of either standards or the instructions given at this time, the value written in the Act is the value in 1998.

“So, quite a long time has passed, so there is a need for us to review it again,” he said in a press conference at his ministry, here.

Fahmi also said the Section 233 of the Act will also be reviewed based on feedback from lawmakers

“Many MPs have a firm view on it but it’s time for either party to decide whether this Act is strong enough or not. But that’s only part of it,” he said.

Section 233 criminalises online content that is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person.

If convicted, the offender could be fined of not more than RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both.

An offender can also be fined for another RM1,000 for every day that the offence is continued after conviction.

On September 17 last year, national news agency Bernama reported Fahmi’s deputy Teo Nie Ching as indicating that amendments to the Act could be tabled in Parliament early this year.

She said it was necessary to review the law to ensure that its existing provisions are sufficient for addressing various offences, especially cybercrimes.