KUALA LUMPUR — Proposed amendments to Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 will make posting of offensive content on children under 18 as an offence punishable with fines of up to RM500,000, or maximum imprisonment of five years, or both.
The amendment bill, tabled today in the Dewan Rakyat for first reading by Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, proposes inserting a new subsection into Section 233 of the Act to prescribe the higher fine limit and lengthier jail term for offences against minors which are classified as arrestable offences.
The new subsection also stipulates an additional fine of RM5,000 for each day or part of a day that the offence continues after conviction, states the bill, which was circulated to MPs today.
The CMA in its current form is not age-specific, and the fine under Section 233 on improper use of network facilities to post “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive” content, is currently only RM50,000.
The jail term under this section is also currently lower, at a maximum of just one year. It will be raised to a maximum of two years, unless the content is against a minor.
The bill also further defines obscene content in relation to children, including but not limiting its definition to child sexual grooming, sexual degradation or objectification, portrayal of sex or pornography including rape, attempted rape of a child and bestiality, whether consensual or not.
The bill also proposes a doubling the current fine to RM1 million if obscene or offensive content is posted for commercial purposes, besides raising the jail term from not more than one year presently, to five years.
A further fine of RM10,000 each day or part of the day that the offence continues after conviction is also proposed, which is higher than the current RM1,000 per day.
Other amendments propose replacing “offensive” with “grossly offensive” in Section 233(1), while expanding the phrase “harass another person” to “harass or commit an offence involving fraud or dishonesty against any person”.
In explanatory notes, the bill states that “grossly offensive content” may include posts containing expletives and which are profane in nature that “offends many people”.
This includes crude references, hate speech and violence.
But, the bill also specifies that usage of crude references “in the context of their ordinary meaning” are not grossly offensive.
It defines hate speech as “any word, visual, audio and gesture that are insulting or demeaning (to) a person” as grossly offensive.
On violence, the bill exempts content portraying violence, as long as it is in the context of news reporting in accordance with journalism ethics.
It also holds any communication made in good faith to be not not grossly offensive as long as it “consists of statements of fact,… are true in substances and facts, and consists of statements of opinion.”
Additionally, the bill also introduces a new Section 233A to prohibit individuals from sending, causing to be sent, or permitting the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages. This provision aligns with a new paragraph granting the Minister the power to make regulations concerning such activities.
The amendments tabled today are a revision of the CMA 26 years after it was legislated.
Fahmi previously emphasised that the government is committed to combating online crimes, ensuring the Internet remains a safer platform for all users.
The second reading of the bill is scheduled to be held during the current parliamentary meeting. – December 2, 2024