KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia is considering an Internet "code of content" to make website operators accountable for what they publish and curb the posting of lies, false news and pornographic material, the official Bernama news agency said.
"We are not amending or creating a new law, but we are looking at the code of content to be introduced soon," the agency said on Wednesday, quoting Chia Kwang Chye, parliamentary secretary for the Energy, Communications and Multimedia Ministry.
"We are studying the cyber laws in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China and Singapore," he added, stressing that Malaysia had no intention of censoring the Internet.
The government regulates the print and broadcast media with operating permits, which can be suspended or revoked if they carry undesirable reports and pictures.
Chia said the Worldwide Web had become not only a source for pornography but also for spreading lies and false news to create strife in multi-racial Malaysia.
There were several accounts of inflammatory rumour mongering on the Internet in the wake of racial violence in a poor area outside Kuala Lumpur last March in which six people were killed.
The proposed code would cover the uploading of information on Internet servers in Malaysia and spell out general guidelines on the sensitivities of the multi-religious society, Chia said.
Operationally, it might be similar to the one in Singapore, where all Internet service and content providers have to have a Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) licence, he said.
Content providers there have to comply with the SBA code of practice or face sanctions and fines.
"With the code of content, everybody in the industry will have to follow, but on a voluntary basis," Chia said.
00:50 05-30-01
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