SHAH ALAM, July 12 — The government is studying possible amendments to Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 that criminalises making offensive posts online, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said today.
“There may be amendments which relate to investigations, and some which relate to regulations.
“There are some provisions that we will remove, some new provisions that we will bring in,” Gobind said at the International Parcel Centre (IPC) here this evening.
This comes following calls for the provision to be repealed after lawyer-activist Fadiah Nadwa Fikri was investigated under it and the Sedition Act, following an article she wrote online that was critical of the monarchy.
“There is a study being conducted by my ministry because it is directly related to the MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission), so I will be able to make an announcement on that later on,” he said in reference to Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.
When asked on the stance of the government on the Sedition Act 1948, Gobind reiterated that as stated in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, they would work to repeal it.
However, he said the matter is now under the purview of the law minister.
“Our manifesto is quite clear, we have said that this is one of the provisions that we will consider to look at and also repeal.
“But this is something that comes within the (responsibilities of the) minister of law. He is also looking into the Anti Fake-News law, and the Freedom of Information Bill at the same time,” Gobind revealed.
“My personal view is the Sedition Act — the Act is outdated and it should be repealed,” he added.
Gobind also said any moratorium on the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act would have to go through due process of getting Cabinet approval.
Calls for a moratorium on the two laws were made after Fadiah was questioned by police yesterday.
