A study on the implementation of internet content regulation in Malaysia

Abstract

The internet is a not a no-man`s land. It is a false perception that was planted in our mind during the beginning of the internet era. The world of anonymity is slowly receding with more and more countries realize the power of the internet being used in its communities and its impact. Few countries have gone to the extremes, in regulating their internet access such as China and Iran. Internet content filtering has also become a common activity as early as 1996. This is shown by the number of governments policing and addressing information and materials being published over the internet. One of the earliest internet censorship laws was enacted in Victoria and in Australia (1996), then other countries followed suit like the United Kingdom and the European Commissions. These laws highlighted illegal and harmful internet content by advocating the use of filtering software and encouragement of self-regulation. Therefore, the main purpose of the study is to explore the implementation of existing legal framework in addressing internet content and the no-censorship issue in the context of Malaysia, and how these are carried out compared to other countries known for leading practices. The challenges facing how internet content filtering was also identified. A qualitative research design was employed to collect data from the selected participants in the industry. The individuals were interviewed as the process of the data collection. The sample population consists of eight managers of regulatory departments, director of Content Monitoring Department and New Media Department with good experience of the industry. Participants responded to open-ended interviews questions in order to investigate the key issues and challenges in implementing the internet content in Malaysia amongst the public. As perceived by the respondents, the findings have found that there are certain challenges. Thus, the implications are to show how its implementation will impact internet Malaysian users and the economy and study the effectiveness of the enforcement of internet content filtering.