Govt not in favour of Facebook ban

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is not in favour of imposing a ban on Facebook like China as the complaints of social media abuse is very low compared to the total internet usage in the country.
Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek (pix) said the government believes that the benefits of using the internet and social media are far greater than banning the social media.
"China's model to ban the use of Facebook is wrong. It is not a good idea. We learn from the experience of other countries, like Korea when the government tried to shut down YouTube, but the court there said that the benefits you gain by shutting down social media is smaller than the benefits you gain through the social media," he told the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday.
He said there are a total of 19.2 million internet users in Malaysia, of which 15 million are registered Facebook users.
Ahmad Shabery said to date a total of 1,225 complaints have been made in relation to social media abuse, and that only makes 0.006% from the total usage of Internet.
He said the Malaysia Commission of Multimedia and Communication (MCMC) had initiated appropriate action and besides monitoring and investigating, it has closed down 1,400 websites that are deemed unsuitable.
"Thus, absolute freedom cannot be practised if it violates the law," he said when responding to Datuk Seri Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang), who asked the government on the violation of law and abuse of the social media in the name of media freedom.
Noh said although there are websites that are shut down, there are still a few sites that are continuing and there is this "rude citizen", whom we see as a traitor (pengkhianat) who is continuing to post harsh things in the social media.
"He is seeking refuge overseas and in his latest post is now challenging the IGP," Noh said, implying sex blogger Alvin Tan, who jumped bail and is now seeking asylum in the United States.
He said there are sites that are instigating the people especially the young, asking Sabah and Sarawak to be independent of Malaysia and also extremist sites that are recruiting young people to join militant groups.
"What is the government waiting for? Why no action against these sites or people behind it?"
Ahmad Shabery said the MCMC is doing the needful.
"There are 11 cases of social media abuse that have been charged in court this year, including Tan's case," he said, adding the main problem faced was bringing them to court as some users do not use their real name and the servers are not in Malaysia.