22 website owners charged since 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Twenty-two owners of social networking sites, websites and blogs have been charged with misusing the me­­dium for various purposes from 2010 to March this year, the Dewan Negara was told.

Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Jailani Johari said as of March, the Malaysian Communications and Multi­media Commission had investigated a total of 32 cases of misuse of the Internet and new media under Section 233 of the Com­munications and Multimedia Act 1998.

“The offences, such as defamation or dissemination of false news via the Internet, are subjected to existing laws such as the Defamation Act 1957, Sedition Act 1948 and the Penal Code (Act 574), as well as the Communications and Multimedia Act,” he said.

Jailani was replying to a question by Senator Datuk Seri Boon Som Inong, who wanted to know the number of Malaysians who had social media accounts such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram and Insta­gram.

As of January, a total of 20.62 million Malaysians had social media accounts, said Jailani. — Bernama