No plans to ban Telegram yet, says Malaysia DPM

KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian government has no plan to ban the Telegram messaging application in the country as it poses no threat as of now.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this while commenting on the Indonesian government’s recent ban of Telegram over terrorism-related security concerns.

"As of now, we have not detected any terror element circulated via the application. There are also no traces of terror attacks (being discussed) or fund sourcing via the application,” he said at the Jakel Mall Hari Raya open house on Sunday (July 16).

"However, the government will continue to monitor activities in the application without interfering in private conversations."

Mr Ahmad Zaid added that the government had already discovered terror elements circulated via three other social media applications —  YouTube, Whatsapp and Instagram.

"We are using decoding software to monitor activities in these three applications, but without interfering in personal conversations," he added.

On July 14, the Indonesian government blocked web access to Telegram and threatened a full ban due to its “terrorism” content. NEW STRAITS TIMES