PETALING JAYA: The Cybercrime Bill will not be misused as a political tool, says Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa (pic).
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) assured that it would not impose restrictions on freedom of speech nor would it lead to excessive monitoring of the rakyat.
“Its main objective is to handle cyber crimes effectively,” she said in a written Parliamentary reply on Friday (Oct 10).
She added that existing laws passed in Parliament are impartial towards all, regardless of background or political involvement.
The minister was responding to Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) who asked about the government’s guarantee that the Cybercrime Bill would not be misused as a political tool, halt freedom of speech or excessively monitor the rakyat.
Dr Zaliha said that the Bill would establish a comprehensive legal framework and include offences for both cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crimes.
“The Bill will also replace the Computer Crimes Act 1997 which currently only covers cyber offences and has not been amended since its enforcement,” she said.
The Bill, she said, also intends to strengthen Malaysia’s ability to handle increasingly complex cybercrimes such as online scams, data breaches and cyber attacks towards critical government information infrastructure.
A technical committee has also been formed comprising various related ministries, the police, Bank Negara, Companies Commission of Malaysia and others.
She said the Bill was also drafted to ensure compliance with the relevant international bodies.
“The drafting of this bill is apt to ensure existing domestic legislations are in line with technological advancements and can handle cyber crimes effectively,” she said.
