DA NANG: Almost two billion suspicious calls and 581 million suspicious short messaging service (SMS) were successfully blocked from reaching Malaysian consumers with the assistance of telco service providers to tackle the issue of online scams.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said from 2020 to April 2023, the ministry also received a total of 8,499 public complaints related to fraudulent activities and within the same period successfully blocked 3,370 phishing sites.
“Malaysia is managing misinformation, especially from the new media by focusing on 2P’s – prevention and protection.
“We are heavily invested in educating and empowering the public with online knowledge and tools to protect themselves,” he said in his remarks at the 16th Conference of Asean Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) plenary session held after the opening ceremony, here on Friday (Sept 22).
Fahmi was leading the Malaysian delegation to the 16th AMRI at Furama Resort Danang, here which officially commenced on Friday.
Meanwhile, to tackle the issue of misinformation, disinformation and fake news, Fahmi said Malaysia had set up a task force consisting of various agencies including the Police, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Attorney General Chambers to establish inter-agency coordination to manage unverified news on new media.
He said this is in response to AMRI’s Working Group on Information, Media and Training which has established the Task Force on Fake News (TFFN) to look specifically at the role of Media and Information, to share best practices and even come up with shared initiatives in the Asean region on combating fake news.
Source: The Star
