Gambling websites constituted the majority of sites blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) from January of 2022 to August of this year.
According to the MCMC, a total of 10,423 websites were blocked during this period due to various legal violations.
Out of these, 4,484 websites were blocked for online gambling activities, 3,271 for pornography, and 1,654 for copyright infringement. Additionally, 316 websites were removed for involvement in scams or illegal online investments, and 249 were blocked for prostitution-related content. The reasons for blocking the remaining 449 websites were not specified.
The MCMC reported that the highest number of harmful websites blocked in the past five years was in 2021, with a total of 6,571. The number of blocked websites has since shown a declining trend: 4,572 were blocked in 2022, 3,724 in 2023, and 2,127 between January and August 1st of this year.
The actions taken against these websites are in accordance with the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, alongside other laws enforced by the police, the domestic trade and cost of living ministry, and the Securities Commission. The MCMC noted that blocking these websites also helps curb broader crimes such as human trafficking, child grooming, the sale of illegal substances, and other organized criminal activities.
To maintain the effectiveness of these blockages in the face of advancing technology, the MCMC emphasized its commitment to collaborating with local service providers. This partnership aims to enhance and strengthen preventive measures, including the management of the domain name system, ensuring a secure online environment for users.
On Tuesday, Sinar Project reported that Maxis Bhd and Time dotCom Bhd had implemented a “transparent DNS proxy” approach, resulting in users being unable to access websites officially blocked by the MCMC through alternative DNS servers. The tech group explained that this action means when users attempt to use alternative DNS services like Google’s or Cloudflare’s, their requests are automatically redirected to the local service provider’s DNS servers.
