JAKIM STEPS UP COOPERATION WITH MCMC TO CURB SPREAD OF DEVIANT TEACHINGS ONLINE

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) is is stepping up its collaboration with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to monitor and block deviant teaching content on digital platforms.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Marhamah Rosli said the move involved using provisions under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 to allow content to be removed swiftly.

She said that the intensive monitoring covered platforms including Facebook, Threads and WhatsApp to prevent the spread of beliefs that distort the faith and that action was taken only against content declared ‘haram’ by religious authorities.

bootstrap slideshow

“Jakim is constantly monitoring the trend of deviant teachings, which has been increasingly detected online in line with technological development,” she said in response to Datuk Azman Nasrudin (PN-Padang Serai) during the Dewan Rakyat question-and-answer session today.

Azman had asked about the steps taken by the government to address the spread of heretical and dubious teachings, which are increasingly prevalent on social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube.

Commenting on the growing trend of heretical teachings hidden in motivational content, Marhamah said that the government was taking proactive steps by enhancing the digital skills of religious enforcement officers to detect and thwart attempts to spread such teachings on social media.

She said that Jakim cadre officers at MCMC had received enhanced training to keep them up to date with digital evolution, including the potential applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

--BERNAMA