GEORGE TOWN: The federal government is seeking to amend the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (MCMA) to become compatible and consistent with the recent amendments to the Evidence Act.
Informations, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said studies into the amendment, which involves the confiscation of equipment and abuse of online contents, are almost complete.
"We want to ensure that the amendments runs in line with Section 114a of the Evidence Act," he said.
"The amendment to MCMA aims to also show that when the law is enforced it would not seem as a sensorship, rather a safety for Malaysian families, in particular children are not exposed to the uncouth online contents."
Rais said the amendments were necessary particularly with the present way of life that saw people turning to the Internet for news and information.
It also aims at ensuring responsible Internet browsing and posting of messages or information without affecting the moral and ethics of Malaysian culture.
At a press conference, Rais said following the completion of the study, the results would be discussed with the Attorney--General on how to go about the amendments.
He said this after launching the Klik dengan Bijak (Click Intelligently) national programme that aimed at educating Malaysians at every level on how to browse the Internet responsibly.
"We want to educate our children to use the Internet as a source of information that would enhance their life instead of being exposed to malicious information or pornographic sites.
"Through the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), we would circulate guidebooks and provide trainings to schools, teachers, villagers and NGOs on how to utilise the Internet correctly," he said.
He added that MCMC would also work with IT colleges to teach students in order to boost their knowledge and expertise in computer programming.
He said Malaysias were not adept in that area unlike other countries, seeing that Malaysian websites are easily hacked.
"War is looming -- not in the form of machine guns, canons or submarines but in the form of cyber. The person who would win this war is the one who is adept in the cyber world. He would be the most powerful person."
At an earlier event, Rais confirmed that Lenggong Valley had become the country's fifth site listed under the Unesco World Heritage List after Georgetown, Malacca, Gua Niah (Sarawak) and Mount Kinabalu (Sabah).
He said the historical site in Lenggong that housed the Perak Man and Perak Woman uncovered in 2001 and 2004, respectively, now formed an artifact to the world that human civilisation existed in Malaysia 11,000 years ago.