According to the Commission, during this period, a total of 10,423 websites were blocked for various illegal activities.
Of these, 4,484 were blocked for online gambling activities, 3,271 for pornographic content, 1,654 for copyright infringement. Additionally, 316 were blocked for involving scams or illegal online investments and 249 for content related to prostitution. The reasons for blocking the remaining 449 websites have not been specified yet.
The MCMC reported that the highest number of harmful websites blocked over the past five years was in 2021, with a total of 6,571. This was followed by a decreasing trend: 4,572 in 2022, 3,724 in 2023, and 2,127 from January to August 1 this year.
The actions against these websites were in compliance with the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, as well as other laws enforced by the police, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, and the Securities Commission. MCMC pointed out that blocking these websites also helps to curb broader crimes such as human trafficking, child enticement, illegal substance trafficking, and other organized crimes.
To maintain the effectiveness of these blocking measures against the backdrop of technological advancements, MCMC emphasized its commitment to collaborate with local service providers. This collaboration aims to strengthen and enhance preventive measures, including management of the Domain Name System, ensuring a secure online environment for users.
On August 13th, the Sinar Project reported that Maxis Bhd and Time dotCom Bhd implemented the "Transparent DNS Proxy" method, which prevents users from accessing websites officially blocked by the MCMC via alternative DNS servers. The tech group explained that this means when users try to use alternative DNS services like Google or Cloudflare, their requests are automatically redirected to the local service provider's DNS servers.
