Malaysia To Call For Campaign To Save Younger Generation From Internet Negativity

From Normalazwa Jamaludin OXFORD, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will call on the international community to embark on a campaign to save the younger generation as well as the next generations from moral degradation arising from exposure to negative elements on the Internet. Information, Communications and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim said the matter would be conveyed at the two-day London Conference on Cyberspace which started here on Tuesday. He said Malaysia would also articulate its view on the enforcement of the law either domestically or internationally, which he said, should not be regarded as an act of Internet censorship. "There should also be a commonly accepted stand to deal with child pornography and pornography in general," he told Bernama and RTM after visiting the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) here on Tuesday. The conference is hosted by British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth, William Hague, and involves cyberspace players from around the world, including those representing governments, industry and civil societies. It focuses on five aspects namely economic growth and development, social benefit, cyber crime, safe and reliable access, and international security. In Malaysia, Rais said, cyberspace matters should be seen from the point of view of how the Internet, through its social media, can be used responsibly within the perimeters of the country's law. "But when we say this, let it not mean that the Internet or the social media is subject to censorship. "The law is the law and should be respected," he said, adding that the conference would galvanise understanding among the international community on proper Internet utilisation. "The time has come for an international understanding on the content of the Internet for the future societies, and not subject the World Wide Web to the views that 'anything goes on the Internet,'" he said. -- BERNAMA