News analysis
Despite Malaysia’s U-turn on web traffic rerouting, the ‘damage has already been done’
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The digital sector makes up 23 per cent of Malaysia’s RM1.8 trillion (S$539 billion) economy.
PHOTO: PEXELS
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KUALA LUMPUR – Although plans to prevent Malaysians from circumventing online restrictions to websites have been put on hold
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil ordered regulators on Sept 8 to suspend the Domain Name System (DNS) redirection policy, which would have required all web traffic to be re-routed through local DNS servers and blocked the use of public or third-party DNS servers.
Days earlier, Mr Fahmi had defended the move amid a barrage of criticism over censorship and potential breaches of privacy and data security.
“The MCMC will continue engagements with all stakeholders... to ensure the objective of a safer internet will be achieved together,” he said, referring to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission which regulates telecommunications.
The backlash came from not just industry experts and everyday consumers, but even lawmakers from Prime Minister Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. This was after word had spread on Sept 5 that all firms providing web connections – known as internet service providers (ISPs) – would have to implement the DNS redirection by the end of the month.
DNS is a system that translates domain names into numerical addresses used by computers to locate websites on the internet. While local ISPs often operate their own DNS servers, some web users use public DNS servers, such as those provided by Google or Cloudflare, to gain faster internet speeds or access websites blocked on local ISPs. Under the government plan, user requests from such third-party DNS servers will be redirected to those operated by local ISPs.
The MCMC on Sept 7 defended its now-suspended plan for local telecommunications firms to redirect web traffic through their own DNS servers “to ensure that users continue to benefit from the protection provided by local ISPs’ DNS servers and ensuring that malicious websites are inaccessible by Malaysians”.
But experts note that these third-party providers offer better speed and security protocols, as well as malware and advertising filters.
“While it is commendable that the Minister for Communications has instructed the regulatory body to not continue with the DNS redirection, my concern is that the damage has already been done,” former deputy international trade and industry minister Ong Kian Ming told The Straits Times.
The former PH MP, who is now a Malaysian Investment Development Authority board member, expressed fears that the DNS redirection plan and subsequent flip-flop – along with uncertainty over controversial social media licensing US tech companies
ST reported in June that there were concerns that the planned social media and messaging platform licensing regime would overreach
Industry sources told ST that MCMC has since taken over the development of a content code after an industry-led forum baulked at some requests by the regulator, including designating politicians as a protected class against “cyber bullying”.
The furore over the DNS redirection policy had led Mr Fahmi to explain on Sept 6 that the move was to stop the public from accessing sites with banned or harmful content such as pornography or gambling, and not to restrict freedom of speech.
MCMC said on Sept 7 that out of 24,277 sites blocked since 2018, 70 per cent was due to pornography and gambling, with another 14 per cent due to copyright infringement and 12 per cent involving illicit products, moneylending and sale of personal data.
While another 2 per cent each involved prostitution and scams, there was no figure given for blocks of news or political sites. During elections across six states in 2023, users attempting to visit several sites critical of the government were instead served with a page saying “This website is not available in Malaysia as it violates the National Law”, a standard template used by MCMC.
But complaints about the DNS redirection policy continued, not just on issues of online censorship but also on data security and the impact to the digital economy, which the Anwar administration has made a key pillar of its development strategies.
“Stamping out porn and gambling is good, but it cannot be at the expense of legitimate activities like gaming,” said Democratic Action Party social media chief Syahredzan Johan, a PH parliamentarian and video games enthusiast who also called on the government to relook the policy.
His party colleague and Selangor state assemblywoman Lim Yi Wei said “it IS censorship” in a Sept 7 post on social media platform X, claiming that the web traffic re-routing plan “opens up further cyber-security risks”.
Another member of the state legislature, Mr Syed Ahmad Abdul Rahman Alhadad, who hails from Datuk Seri Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat, said “it is draconian” and warned of “adverse” impact on the digital economy.
Dr Shawn Tan, principal engineer at computer engineering services provider Aeste Works, called the redirection policy “a straightforward DNS hijacking attack”.
He explained that hackers could simply attack the ISPs’ DNS servers, which are widely acknowledged to be less robust than those offered by Google or Cloudflare, leaving Malaysians with no alternatives.
Dr Tan noted how a 2016 cyber attack targeting DNS provider Dyn led to the outage of major platforms ranging from Amazon to Twitter, and even payment solutions like PayPal and Visa across Europe and North America.
He also questioned whether any scammers would be deterred, as they could simply register a new website to get around MCMC’s blocks.
“The only people who will be impacted are legitimate businesses who have spent money building up their online brands and are unable or unwilling to move to a different domain. The recourse available, according to the government, is to seek redress at a tribunal led by a High Court judge. So, the legitimate business is now ‘guilty until proven innocent’,” he said, adding that businesses would suffer reputational damage and loss of revenue during the downtime.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said in February that the digital economy makes up 70 per cent of Malaysia’s investments. These are largely data centres, cloud computing, data hosting, analytics and artificial intelligence, all of which could be impacted by the re-routing of internet traffic via DNS redirection.
The digital sector makes up 23 per cent of Malaysia’s RM1.8 trillion (S$539 billion) economy and is expected to be worth more than a quarter of gross domestic product by 2025.
