KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat passed the Online Safety Bill 2024 through a voice vote today.
The Online Safety Bill 2024 would require social media platform providers to comply with three main responsibilities, namely ensuring platform safety, protecting children under 13, and restricting access to harmful content.
Earlier, Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas) had called for a bloc vote after Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said wrapped up the second reading of the bill.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said 77 agreed, 55 disagreed, and 90 members of Parliament were absent.
The bill was debated by 17 MPs.
During her winding-up speech, Azalina reiterated that the bill was not meant to stifle free speech but was a law to regulate companies categorised as service providers.
"Currently, there are eight companies and two systems of service providers. They are Meta, which covers Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp; Bytedance for TikTok; X for Twitter; Telegram; Tencent; WeChat; and Google, which owns YouTube.
"They have millions of users, and what we are trying to do today (by introducing the law) is to ensure that when these companies register as a service provider, they must be responsible for their platforms, that's all," she said.
Citing the 'Abang Bas' case as an example, Azalina said the Abang Bas TikTok account had videos showing the faces of young children to his 640,000 followers.
"Who will take these images down? We can report it to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission or the police, but it will take longer for them to act.
"Those who are offering the service through their system already have ways to evaluate and take down (harmful content)," she added.