KUALA LUMPUR: More than 2,200 porn and phishing websites have been blocked by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) this year, says Fahmi Fadzil.
In a written reply to Datuk Wan Saifulruddin Wan Jan (PN-Tasek Gelugor), the Communications and Digital Minister said MCMC had blocked these websites from Jan 1 to Aug 31 this year to ensure no laws are breached.
"A total of 1,022 porn and 1,247 phishing websites were blocked during this period," he said.
He added that the action was taken by enforcement agencies including MCMC, police, Securities Commission, Health Ministry as well as the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry.
Apart from this, he said a total of 3,997 other websites were also blocked by the enforcement authorities.
The other blocked websites included those involved in online gambling and breach of copyright law with 453 each.
Others included prostitution (83), illegal stock and equities trading (78), controlled drugs or cosmetics (38), food products (30), trademark law (26), hate speech (17), money lending (12), personal data (6), medicine (3), illegal business programmes (2) and criminal defamation (1).
"MCMC has also blocked a total of 11,949 social media accounts for violating social media policies and laws in the country," he said.
Fahmi added among the accounts, 7,026 were related to online gambling, 1,842 in scams and 1,263 accounts involved in bullying and harassment.
Other social media accounts that were blocked included porn (506), fake content (722), fake accounts (157), threatening (27), inappropriate accounts (1) and other violations (405).
"Efforts to block these accounts are non-negotiable and follow terms and conditions set by the social media platforms," he added.
Meanwhile, in a written reply to Datuk Suhaimi Nasir (BN-Libaran), Fahmi said a total of 156 unverified news items that touch on 3R (Race, Royalty and Religion) and the Prime Minister had been identified since Dec 1, 2022.
"Police have opened a total of 66 investigation papers against fake news and 3R issues and have solved 41 cases while another 25 cases are still being investigated by police, Attorney General's Chamber and MCMC," he added.
Fahmi said several initiatives have been carried out to educate the public to fact-check the news with verified sources before sharing them.
"MCMC has a fact-checking portal called sebenarnya.my while Radio Televisyen Malaysia has a television and radio programme called ‘Pastikan Sahih’ from Monday to Thursday.
"RTM also has a one-minute segment called ‘Biar Betul!’ which airs during the ‘Kanta 744’ slot at 7.44pm daily," he said.
Fahmi also shared about MCMC's nationwide programme "Klik Dengan Bijak" which aims to teach the elderly and youth about the dangers of fake news.