The government says Grindr and Blued remain on app stores as no takedown request has been made, with MCMC still reviewing legal and regulatory options.
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has yet to receive any request to remove same-sex dating applications Grindr and Blued from app stores, despite their websites already being blocked, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
MCMC, through the Communications Ministry’s parliamentary written reply on Feb 24, said the matter remains under review.
“For information, websites such as Grindr and Blued have been blocked by MCMC, and to date MCMC has not received any request to remove the dating applications from app stores,” the ministry stated.
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The matter was raised by Nurul Amin Hamid (PN-Padang Terap) who asked whether MCMC had worked with Google Play Store and Apple App Store to block downloads of the applications, which he described as being used as a medium for same-sex relationships.
The ministry further clarified that the said listings on the two app stores fall under the policies of their respective operators, which are foreign-owned and based outside Malaysia.
It said MCMC monitors online content for breaches of local laws and will act where offences are detected.
“MCMC takes action against content or application functions that contravene local laws, including matters such as the dissemination of obscene or immoral content, exploitation or abuse, fraud, child abuse or threats to public safety,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that if any application (including dating platforms) is found to be used to distribute prohibited content or facilitate unlawful activities, MCMC can take enforcement action against the service.
Such measures include submitting removal requests to the relevant platform operators, restricting access to the content or service, and referring the matter to enforcement authorities, including the police.
It added that action taken so far has focused primarily on access controls at the web level.
“MCMC is examining several legal measures to curb such applications. The commission is reviewing appropriate regulatory approaches to address the issue.”
The Sun Malaysia
