Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the internet, in particular the social media, should be regulated to ensure its beneficial use.

“Alternative media - or social media - is like a knife. It can be use for good use or make it less liveable. When I was the Prime Minister, an expert told me I should never censor the internet. But now I’ve changed my mind,” said Tun Mahathir during a special address at Malaysia Social Media 2015 (MSMW2015) in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

His session was titled “Social media and the future - a view from an elder stateman”.

Dr Mahathir was commenting on pornographic content available on the Internet, which could lead to various social issues.

“Teenagers get excited easily, when they get excited with the wrong things, bad things happen including sex crime,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said society should not abuse the medium but instead use it for a good purpose.

“The social media gives us all power that we never had before. Everyone of us has obtained incredible power.

“Whatever we put in, must be for the good of society, sticking to the truth. It’s very nice to write nasty things about other people, but if it is not contributing anything to society then do not do it,” he said.

He also urged netizens to be more responsible as their actions could affect society.

“In today’s world, we cannot avoid difference, like religious difference. People are sensitive with their faith and belief. If you make fun of them, you create a lot of anger. When the anger mounts, it will result in violence.

“Social media gives a promising future for all of us. If we abuse we will see conflicts, civil war and instability, because we make use of the media to irritate people,” he said.

During the Q&A, Tun Mahathir answered a question posted by Astro AWANI’s Twitter follower.



In response to the question, Tun Mahathir said there is a tendency for the laws to be abused.

“[The government] may translate certain acts as sedition even though it is not seditious. The laws should be used properly.

“If one says 'this country should have a civil war, and we should overthrow the government’ then that’s seditious. If one says we need to change the government and country’s leader then that’s not seditious,” he explained.

When asked about Malayisa producing new social media platoforms, Tun Mahathir admitted that Malaysians are not product developers.

“Malaysians consume products created by others. It does not contribute to the country’s progress. We must come out with ideas like Facebook and Google. We must create products that can ease people when they look for information,” he said.

MSMW2015 is a week-long event, bringing together social media experts from Malaysia and across the world.

Dr Mahathir’s speech was the main highlight from the two-day MSMW2015 summit.