We might have to kiss one of the cornerstones of modern life goodbye: the Federal Government is studying whether it would be best to close down Facebook in Malaysia, following several high-profile cases of abuse involving the social network.
Communication and Multimedia Minisrter Datuk Seri Ahmad Shaberi Cheek said his ministry was conducting studies to gauge public opinion on the matter.
“If the people are of the opinion that Facebook should be closed, we are prepared to look into the matter but it is a radical approach,” he said, as reported by The Rakyat Post.
Despite setting up the study, Ahmad Shabery noted that shutting down Facebook altogether was impossible, as the 2,000 reports of abuse his ministry received involving the site need to be contrasted with the 15 million or so Facebook acccounts registered to Malaysians.
“Many business people are also using Facebook, others to forge family ties and have nothing to do with politics…and the complaints received were around 2,000 only. Should we completely close it down because of 2,000 reports? We need to relook this,” he said.
Last week, the Istana Negara lodged a police report and a complaint to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) over the action of an individual on Facebook who posted an image of a gory traffic accident juxtaposed with a photo of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also called for censoring the internet, a backtrack from his statements as Prime Minister that Malaysians should be able to peruse a free and independent Net. Ironically, he made the call for censorship on his wildly popular blog.
