Malaysia is legislating for an ‘internet kill switch’, according to Azalina Othman Said, the country’s Law and Institutional Reform minister.
Though the details Said gave in a written statement posted to Twitter (written in Malay and recounted via The Register) are thin on the ground, luddites and anarchists dreaming of destruction are set to be disappointed, with the minister strongly implying that it's a move to apply pressure on social media companies to do more about online abuse committed and illegal material disseminated across their platforms.
The minister suggests in her statement that this, and the government’s desire to explicitly define cyberbullying (implying that it may be made a crime in the country) is nothing new, and “in line with legislative initiatives enforced in various other countries.”
Sweeping social media reform in Malaysia
Malaysia currently has a laser focus on the issue of the perceived unaccountability of social media platforms.
Recently, Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) revealed a “new regulatory framework” that will require “all social media services and Internet messaging services with at least eight million users” to obtain a licence to operate in the country.
It added failure to comply with the move, designed to “create a safer online ecosystem and a better user experience, especially for children and families”, would result in “appropriate legal action”, which it failed to define but is almost certainly referring to the notion of a “kill switch”.
The framework will come into effect on August 1 2024, while enforcement will begin on January 1 2025.
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