ART Agreement: No Compromise On National ICT Infrastructure Security - Teo

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- The sovereignty and security of the country’s information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure remain protected under Malaysian law in the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) between Malaysia and the United States (US), says Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.

She said all matters involving ICT infrastructure such as 5G and 6G coverage, communication satellites and undersea cables were fully subject to Malaysian domestic laws and regulations, particularly the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588).

Teo emphasised that provisions in the Malaysia-US ART did not grant any party veto power over Malaysia’s position on matters that could potentially compromise security.

“The clause in the ART states that Malaysia commits to only using communication technology suppliers that do not compromise security safeguards and ICT intellectual property infrastructure.

“Malaysia and the US will consult on whether suppliers are able to meet these demands. So far, Malaysia’s obligation is only to consult, which means that no party, including the US, has veto power over Malaysia,” she said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill (Budget) 2026 at the committee stage for the Ministry of Communications in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Meanwhile, Teo said Malaysia was awaiting official feedback from social media platform companies on their ability to implement an age verification system using the e-KYC (Know Your Customer via digital platform) process before finalising the minimum age of 16 for account registration.

“So far, we hope the platform providers can implement e-KYC to ensure that no one under 16 can open a social media account. But we will inform the platforms and consider their feedback,” she said.

She noted that Malaysia’s approach, which required age verification using identity documents, differred from Australia, which would be implementing age assurance without documents starting Dec 4.

Teo said the effectiveness of the policy required parental cooperation in monitoring the content accessed by children, as banning social media accounts did not prevent Internet use.

“It is not possible to forbid children from using the Internet these days… but it is the responsibility of parents to ensure they know what content is appropriate or not,” she said, emphasising the importance of political support for effective age verification.

As part of efforts to enhance digital literacy among the younger generation and address social media addiction, Teo said the ministry, together with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Home Affairs and other agencies, had intensified the Safe Internet Campaign since January, targeting school students.

In other developments, she congratulated Malaysians who recently won six trophies at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.

“This achievement shows that the country’s film industry is increasingly prominent and will continue to bring pride to Malaysia on the international stage.

“Moreover, the film Mother Bhumi, produced by Janji Pictures, which won an award, is a recipient of the 2025 Creative Content Fund (DKK) under the Post-Production Fund category,” she said.

Teo added that the government would continue to provide special grants for film and creative content production to support the creation of more quality works, including the National Citra Production Special Fund and the Film in Malaysia Incentive (FIMI) for productions in the genres of nationhood, culture and national unity.

The sitting continues tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA