Govt has no intention to pursue DNS redirection plan, says Fahmi
Published on: Wednesday, September 11, 2024
By:
FMT, Elill Easwaran
Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil had previously instructed for the domain name system redirection plan to be halted following feedback. (Bernama pic)
PUTRAJAYA: The government has no plans to pursue an initiative requiring all internet service providers to implement domain name system (DNS) redirection by the end of this month.
"We have no intention to continue (with such a plan),"government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said when asked today if the initiative was still on the table.
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Fahmi, who is also the communications minister, had over the weekend instructed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission not to proceed with its DNS redirection plan, following feedback received through a series of engagements MCMC conducted with the general public.
However, he said, the country’s internet regulator would continue to engage with all stakeholders to gather their feedback and suggestions to achieve the shared objective of a "safer internet."
MCMC previously said that only malicious sites, especially pornography and online gambling, were blocked while legitimate websites remained accessible.
DNS servers direct internet traffic by providing the route from the user to the target website. Some users choose to use third-party servers such as Google DNS (8.8.8.8) or Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) for faster speeds and other benefits.
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Fahmi said the main priority was to ensure the internet was safer for children.
Asked whether Malaysia would emulate Australia’s minimum age requirement of 16 to use social media platforms, he said this was something that had been discussed in the past.
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“I have brought this up with the social media platforms multiple times.
"Every time we discuss it, the social media platforms show that their guidelines itself do not allow children below 13 to have an account,"he said.
However, he said, the reality was different, blaming it on weak implementation of the age restriction by the social media companies.
"With the upcoming licensing, I hope social media platforms will be more serious (in implementing this),"he said.
In July, MCMC said social media platforms with more than eight million users in the country would be required to apply for a licence as part of a drive to combat cyber crime.
This new rule would be enforced from 2025.
Meanwhile, Fahmi said religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar had been ordered to submit to the Cabinet a full report on the proposal to make halal certification mandatory for eateries that did not serve pork or alcohol.
He said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wanted to see the findings of the Malaysian Islamic development department’s (Jakim) study on the proposal.
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