7 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Online Safety Act to come into force soon, says Azalina
BANGI: The Online Safety Act 2024 is set to come into force in the near future, following royal assent from His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, confirmed the law has been gazetted and now awaits the signature of Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil to set the enforcement date.
"It has been gazetted. Now it is for the minister (Fahmi) to sign the enforcement date.
"Once he signs it, the law will come into effect and they (the government) are able to immediately take down (unlawful postings). According to the law, there are also expectations on the platform providers to have a certain duty of care.
"After that, there will be a joint council (Online Safety Committee) where they will provide the definition of online harms," she said at a press conference after launching the National Legal Academy here today.
The Dewan Rakyat in December last year gave the nod to the Online Safety Bill which requires social media platform providers to comply with three main responsibilities, namely ensuring platform safety, protecting children under 13 and restricting access to harmful content.
These platforms would also need to submit an annual Digital Safety Plan detailing their safety strategies and accomplishments.
On another matter, Azalina said her proposal for the government to consider amending the Penal Code or introducing a new law for corporate manslaughter in light of the fatal Gerik bus crash is a personal opinion.
She said in her view, corporations should be responsible for ensuring that their vehicles are fit for purpose.
Azalina previously had said that such a law had already been introduced in the United Kingdom in response to several workplace fatalities where no corporate entity could be held criminally accountable under previous laws, especially companies providing transportation services.
