Twitterjaya: Create a guideline before monitoring social media

The ministry will also work closely with Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to monitor social media.

Social media practitioners in Malaysia share their thoughts:

“The law has always been there, like the common law, media law and penal code. Whether we know it or not, all of us are already subjected to the law. A social media user can sue another user based on the laws and authorities are able to take action against a netizen.

"However, social media is a platform that will be hard to control. It’s a platform for people to express what is on their mind and to hold every day conversations just like in the coffee shops. For MCMC to monitor every single tweet, that is going to be a monumental task."

“There are no restrictions on social media and therefore some people are able to write whatever they want on Facebook and Twitter. Some people might then be victims of false information and rumours. Some content also disseminate hatred and the use of foul language. It’s not a healthy democracy. MCMC has to strict with their enforcements so that this issue can be monitored.

It also starts with practising self-censorship in which the blogger should reveal their identity. With this, they have some sense of responsibility and in a way, will obey the law. The public also has to verify the information they have read on social media just to ensure its accuracy.”

The internet should be free, without any boundaries. It should not be over-policed or overly supervised. However, lately some posts have shown some worrying trends we should require some sort of supervision. However, first a foremost, we (netizens) should have a proper guideline. We need those who are social media savvy to be part of the policymakers. We can’t have policymakers who themselves are not active on social media and yet they want to draft the policies. We can’t apply the same policies like traditional media.

"Secondly, there should be enforcement which is fair and not lopsided towards any political parties. Anyway, the internet should be free. The more you try to control the people, the more they would want to fight back."