Parliament looks into complaints of indecency on social media

Parliament's Committee on Information and Communication Technology held a meeting to discuss complaints received regarding indecency on social media by some Maldivians.

Regarding the issue, the committee met with the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) today.

Committee Chair, Milandhoo MP Hassan Mufeed Abdul Gadir, said that the committee had received complaints about an individual sharing images and footage of being indecently dressed on social media platforms, as well as other incidents of indecency, which was affecting the social fabric of society, raising widespread public concern.

Due to this, the committee wishes to discuss with relevant institutions possible actions that can be taken to address this issue, he said.

NCIT's IT Infrastructure Manager Hussain Mohamed responded that it is possible to regulate content on social media platforms, but said this can be done under the oversight of the Communications Authority.

He said that regulating social media is not within the mandate of NCIT, requesting that the Communications Authority be included in the discussion. However, he said that NCIT can provide technical assistance required by the Communications Authority.

NCIT said that limiting social media use so as to disallow sharing content which goes against the country's laws, Islamic values, and social guidelines can only be done through collaboration with the platforms themselves, and forming necessary MOUs. They said that this is a practice currently in use in some other countries as well.

NCIT said that Communications Authority, Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology and internet service providers must be included in the discussions to find a practical resolution to the issue.

The Committee decided today to summon senior officials of Communications Authority to their next meeting.