KUALA LUMPUR: More than 100 websites offering prostitution services have been blocked as of Nov 15 this year, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching said the 118 sites were blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) upon the Royal Malaysian Police's request.
Teo said the police had jurisdiction over said matters, while the MCMC's role was to provide technical assistance in investigations, perform digital forensic analysis, and remove content upon request.
She added that 76 social media posts offering sex services had been taken down across different platforms as of Nov 15 this year.
“The posts violated community guidelines and went against the country’s laws. The MCMC will continue taking the necessary measures in tandem with enforcement agencies such as the police, internet service providers and social media platform operators to overcome this issue,” she said.
Teo had said this during the question and answer session in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 21) in response to a question by Zulkifli Ismail (PN-Jasin).
He had asked the ministry about the measures taken to curb the spread of online prostitution activities over the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.
Zulkifli also voiced concerns over how individuals offered such services through their personal social media accounts, adding that even if the accounts were blocked, they could open a new one.
Teo admitted this was challenging as such content could be uploaded to private groups on platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
“The content is not uploaded to an open platform but to selected groups and the police also depend on the public’s reports of said issues to take action,” she said.
Teo thensaid the best course of action is for the public to lodge police reports if they came across lewd content on social media.
She stressed that the MCMC were not the “internet police” in this context and acted upon requests by enforcement agencies to take action.
“Lodge a police report if you come across this content so the police can inform us. The MCMC can then remove the content and block the site,” Teo said.
