22/07/2026 07:55 PM

CMA Remains Future-ready To Regulate Emerging Technologies

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) remains a future-ready and technology-neutral legislation capable of adapting to emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).

Panellists at the Regional and Global Regulatory Collaboration dialogue today said the CMA’s technology-neutral framework and built-in flexibility have enabled it to remain relevant despite rapid technological advancements, allowing it to evolve through targeted amendments and subsidiary legislation where necessary.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General Sulyna Abdullah said future regulation of emerging technologies should be agile, adaptable and anticipatory.

“For future regulation of emerging technologies, we have what we call the three A’s. Most people stop at two, which is the need for regulation to be agile and adaptable, but there is also the need for it to be anticipatory.

“You need to anticipate what’s coming and all three are built into the CMA, which is why you don’t really need to amend the Act except to tweak it here and there. I would even go so far as to say that when it comes to AI, the CMA will probably cover that,” she said.

Legal Advisor at the Ministry of Communications Farhati Ahmad Tajuddin said the CMA was drafted as a technology-neutral legislation with sufficient flexibility to accommodate future technological developments.

“The CMA Act was drafted way back in 1998, but it is actually a technology-neutral legislation. For example, the definition of application service means a service provided by means of, but not solely by means of, one or more network services.

“So it can cater for future definitions and future mechanics. From the legislative point of view, we have the primary Act and subsidiary legislation, with the source of authority always provided under the main Act,” she said.

The session was moderated by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) senior advisor (operations) Datuk Zurkarnain Mohd Yasin in conjunction with the two-day International Regulators Conference (IRC) 2026, which concluded today.

On a separate matter, Sulyna said while every country’s regulatory framework should reflect its culture, traditions and national priorities, it must also remain interoperable with regional and global frameworks.

She said regulatory measures should serve national interests, particularly in emerging areas such as AI and cybersecurity, but cautioned that countries could not operate in isolation when addressing digital challenges.

Meanwhile, Internet Society (ISOC) senior director for regional affairs (Asia-Pacific) Noelle de Guzman said preserving an open internet does not mean allowing unrestricted activity online, but ensuring it continues to serve as a platform for innovation, development, and empowerment.

She said technical safeguards such as the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol help preserve the internet’s openness by encrypting communications, verifying legitimate websites and enabling secure online transactions.

For Senior Officer at the ASEAN Secretariat’s Digital Economy Division Hazremi Hamid, stronger regional regulatory cooperation is becoming increasingly important as digital services transcend national borders.

He said negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), which is the world’s first legally binding regional digital economy agreement, have been concluded and the pact is expected to be signed at the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines this November.

Hazremi said the agreement would strengthen cross-border digital cooperation while respecting national sovereignty by aligning regional strategies with domestic policies, adding that ASEAN would continue to adopt a neutral and consensus-based approach amid growing geopolitical competition in the digital space.

The dialogue session was held in conjunction with the two-day IRC 2026, which began yesterday, a global platform organised by the MCMC bringing together regulators, industry leaders and experts to discuss the digital economy and regulatory issues in the communications and multimedia sector.

-- BERNAMA


 

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