[UPDATED] Puspal to submit changes on approval guidelines next week: Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR – The central committee for the application for filming and performance by foreign artistes (Puspal) has been asked to provide a list of improvements to regulations governing the approval of performances by foreign artistes to the Communications and Digital Ministry next week, its minister Fahmi Fadzil said.

The list is needed as a preventive measure to avoid a recurrence of disrespectful actions such as those committed by British band The 1975 during their performance at Good Vibes Festival 2023 in Sepang yesterday, he told reporters after a Madani Community event here today.

He added that he had met with Puspal in June and was told that they did not receive any application for the participation of The 1975 in the festival.

“The organisers did appeal and attached a letter of undertaking stating that they would be fully responsible for the band’s concert,” he said.

Fahmi said that the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa will chair the Puspal meeting to ensure that such situations do not recur. 

Further performances by The 1975 at Good Vibes Festival 2023 have been cancelled following the band’s vocalist Matt Healy’s disrespectful actions during their concert, including parading a bottle of liquor on stage and criticising the country’s laws regarding lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.

Meanwhile, Fahmi said that efforts to tackle phishing scams would involve amending laws relating to cyber security for personal data, such as the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Act 709), and it would be brought to Parliament for discussion.

“There is a need to make important improvements as Act 709 is growing outdated and many things have changed drastically, including the concept of data itself. 

“For instance, geolocation data currently is not considered data related to Act 709 and at the same time, we need to strengthen the National Scam Response Centre,” he said.

On the existence of deviant teachings on social media, Fahmi said the Islamic Development Department would work with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to track down any content related to deviant teachings so that swift action can be taken.

“On platforms like TikTok, it’s hard for us to track the same video that is shared on different accounts because of different tags and posts. 

“We have discussed with TikTok for assistance in terms of enforcement and how to use Artificial Intelligence technology to help identify similar content, for deviant teachings,” he said.

A video depicting a family confessing to deviant teachings had gone viral on social media previously, along with another video of a man and a woman claiming that Allah is the Prophet Muhammad. – Bernama, July 22, 2023