KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed online safety law is designed to enhance user protection and uphold freedom of speech, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform).
Addressing concerns at the International Legal Conference on Online Harms 2024, she said that the new legislation was not meant to regulate content but to fill gaps in existing laws such as the Penal Code and Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Current laws lack specific provisions for cyberbullying, which often leaves law enforcement unable to address such complaints effectively.
"When a complainant lodges a report claiming that they were being cyberbullied, the police were unable to gauge the offence based on the existing provisions.
"To address this, the amendments to the Penal Code to cover cyberbullying are already in the works," she said during a press conference at the International Legal Conference on Online Harms 2024 today.
Azalina said that the online safety bill aims to reduce users' exposure to harmful content, with specific safeguards for platforms likely to be accessed by children, using "sophisticated systems that can recognise their users".
She said the inclusion of "kill switch" provisions in the bill, was intended to bolster digital security.
She said that platform operators would be required to uphold user protection, including monitoring products sold on their platforms.
"The responsibility for online safety will not solely rest with platform providers; it will be a shared duty among the community," she added.
The draft bill is ready, and public consultations will be held to gather stakeholder input before it is tabled in the next Parliamentary sitting which starts on Oct 14.
Earlier in her ministerial speech titled "Empowering Citizens Online: Regulating Online Harms", Azalina said online protection should be a collective duty for everyone involved, and not the sole responsibility of platform providers.
She said the pervasive nature of online harms ranged from cyberbullying, misinformation, exploitation, radicalisation demands comprehensive legal frameworks and collaboration between governments, civil society to society at large.
She also highlighted the negative impact of doxing where personal information is maliciously shared without consent, often to harass or intimidate, as well as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for malicious activities.
"Malaysia is not alone in recognising the need for online safety law.
"A growing number of countries have legislated or are legislating online safety laws, and the need to have one is certainly not lost to us."
Azalina said the proposed safety act adopts a hybrid model aimed to require the implementation of effective safety measures, along with positive duties among applications services and content applications services in facilitating healthy and safe exercise of freedom of expression in the country without compromising the privacy of individuals.
She said the bill was also aimed at providing for more robust complaints and redress mechanisms, to empower the users and transparent sharing of data, which includes the establishment of a watchdog.