KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — The proposed amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588) were approved by the Cabinet last Friday and are expected to be tabled in Parliament next month, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.

She said that in the proposed amendments, the evolution of technology and the increased use and reliance on technology have been considered to address cyber threats.

“This includes issues related to the spread of false information through online platforms, which can cause harm to users,” she said in response to a question from Riduan Rubin (Independent-Tenom) on whether the ministry plans to formulate comprehensive, inclusive, and up-to-date laws to address the spread of false information, during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She added that the government would soon table the Online Safety Bill aimed at curbing criminal activities on social media as well as fake news.

In addition, she said a Special Task Force to address Fake News and the 3R issues (race, religion, and royalty) has been formed, involving strategic collaboration among various departments and agencies, including the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the Information Department, RTM and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama).

Teo said that 21,156 false contents had been removed by social media platform providers between 2022 and Nov 15, based on the platform providers’ own assessments according to community standards.

“As for enforcement, 198 cases involving fake elements have been investigated, and five of these cases were prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Chambers and resulted in convictions,” she said.

Replying to a supplementary question from Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden (PN-Alor Setar) regarding the increasing number of fake accounts, Teo said one of the proposed amendments to Act 588 is the introduction of a new section to strengthen enforcement.

“We believe that with this new section, if approved by the Dewan Rakyat, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) will have the authority to request platform providers (social media) to disclose user data, and from there, we hope to facilitate investigations by PDRM,” she said.

She also emphasised the importance of social media platforms such as Meta, ByteDance, and Google tightening their guidelines for creating new accounts, such as requiring users to input their phone numbers. — Bernama