Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo today said his call for portals to moderate comments is not an unreasonable request. He reiterated that it is not curtailing views on the media but to avoid inflammatory comments which may affect the security of the nation.

The minister said the Pakatan Harapan government is committed to press freedom and freedom of expression.

"This is evidenced by the repeal of the Anti-Fake News Law in the Dewan Rakyat in August 2018, although this bill was defeated later in the Dewan Negara.

"All freedoms must be accompanied with a responsible use of that freedom. This is why I said that portals, which include news portals, must be responsible for what appears on their portals which must include comments published there in," he reminded, in a statement issued today.

As such, Gobind said he supports the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah's call in Parliament yesterday, for responsible use of social media.

Gobind maintains his views that there must be freedom for everyone to discuss topics openly and frankly on social media.

"This is important and we need to retain it. At the same time, we want to make sure that the essence of the discussion is not lost and that social media is not abused to the extent that it violates laws, causes social unrest or undermines national security.

"Having said that, I am of the view that asking portals to moderate the content in their commentary sections is not unreasonable. In essence, it reinforces the fact that we uphold the right to free speech but reiterates also at the same time the need for responsibility to be attached to it," he added.

The minister noted that today's portals provide news and also an avenue for people to exchange views on news reports. While social media and online news portals do benefit society, there is a need to exercise proper decorum on these platforms.

"It is in this context that I called for our news portals to self-regulate through moderating their news and the comments posted on their sites.

"It is not meant to curtail civil liberties but rather to maintain decorum and avoid expression which promotes inflammatory remarks which may impact on the security of our nation which we increasingly see today," he pointed out.

The minister further reminded the people that freedom of expression is not meant to promote lewd, vulgar or sexist comments.

"Neither should we condone physical threats or threats of bodily harm on social media," Gobind said.

The minister, who is also DAP deputy chairman, said he is concerned as he had received many complaints concerning the use of social media particularly in relation to comments on portals which also include news portals.

Gobind added that there were many suggestions put forward as to how to deal with such comments, including moderating the comments by the portals and there have also been suggestions for legislation to deal with it.

"I personally don't find anything wrong with people expressing a concern over these matters. To me, these are genuine and pressing concerns and there is a need for us to discuss and decide how we need to deal with it," he added.

"So, as I said earlier, we need to discuss this further. I intend to sit with all concerned, including my friends in the media to find a way in which we can discuss this, develop a framework and agree to some mechanism by which we can deal with the complaints I have received," the minister said.

Gobind reiterated the call for all to be cautious in what it is posted on social media.

"While we respect freedom of expression and freedom of the press," the minister said, "we must remember, that this freedom is not absolute but subject to laws applicable necessary to preserve public order in our country."

"I look forward to continuing this dialogue with the relevant stakeholders. I will also seek the views and recommendations from the to-be-formed media council on this matter and also how to better promote responsible use of social media while providing the space for freedom of expression in this country," he added.

For the past two weeks, several people had been charged in court following the offensive comments they had posted on social media, including Twitter and Facebook.

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