KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance Bill will act as a preventive layer on top of existing laws to curb abuses such as deepfakes and synthetic content, says Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
He said the Bill is being drafted to cover the entire life cycle of AI systems, and not just the content they produce.
"The AI Governance Bill is designed to deal with risks in a systematic way across the whole life cycle of an AI system," he said when replying to Wong Shu Qi (Pakatan–Kluang) during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (June 22).
"This approach allows threats such as deepfakes and synthetic content to be controlled from the start through data governance, transparency, risk assessment and clear accountability for developers and those who deploy AI systems," he added.
Gobind said the new law will require those who develop, provide, use or operate AI systems to take reasonable and appropriate governance steps based on the level of risk of each system.
"The AI Governance Bill will strengthen the existing framework by setting clearer responsibilities at the development and implementation stages of AI systems. At the same time, if there is any content or act that breaks the law, enforcement action can still be taken under the relevant existing laws," he said.
Gobind stressed that misuse of AI – including child sexual exploitation material generated by AI, identity impersonation and the spread of intimate content without consent – already falls under current laws.
These include the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, the Online Safety Act 2025 and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which allow action to be taken against those who produce, distribute, make available, access or possess such illegal material, even when it is created or manipulated using AI.
"Existing laws play an important role in dealing with acts that are already illegal, including criminal offences, harmful content, abuse of online platforms, breaches of individual rights and child protection," he said.
However, he said rapid advances in AI meant an extra layer of governance was needed to focus on the systems themselves.
"AI risks do not only appear at the end when content is produced. They can arise earlier through system design, data selection and use, model training methods, security controls, access controls, human oversight and how the AI system is used in its operational context," he said.
Gobind said the Government is using a two-layer approach – enforcing existing laws against those who misuse content, while introducing the AI Governance Bill to strengthen prevention and accountability throughout the AI life cycle.
"This strategy ensures that existing laws and the AI Governance Bill complement each other, balancing innovation with system risk control," he said.
