MCMC said it blocked a total of 10,423 websites during the period because of various violations of the law.
Of the number, 4,484 websites were blocked for online gambling, 3,271 were involved in pornography, and 1,654 websites were taken down for copyright infringement.
MCMC said 316 websites were taken down for involvement in scams or illegal online investments and 249 websites for prostitution.
It did not mention the reasons why the remaining 449 websites were blocked.
“Within the last five years, the highest number of harmful websites, totalling 6,571, was recorded in 2021,” it said in a statement.
It also said the number of harmful websites recorded showed a downward trend, with 4,572 recorded in 2022; 3,724 in 2023; and 2,127 between January and Aug 1 this year.
MCMC said the action taken against the websites was in line with the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 as well as other legislations under the purview of the police, the domestic trade and cost of living ministry, and the Securities Commission.
“On a broader scale, blocking these websites also helps to curb other crimes such as human trafficking, child grooming, the sale of illegal substances like drugs, and other organised crimes.
“To ensure these blockages remain effective and in line with technological advancements, MCMC is committed to working closely with local service providers to enhance and strengthen preventive and protective measures, including in the management of the domain name system.
“This collaboration ensures a safe online environment and guarantees the safety of all users,” it said.
On Tuesday, Sinar Project claimed that Maxis Bhd and Time dotCom Bhd have implemented the “transparent DNS proxy” approach, leading to their users being unable to access websites officially blocked by MCMC through alternative DNS servers.
The tech group said this action by Maxis and Time means that when users try to use alternative DNS services like Google’s or Cloudflare’s, their requests will be automatically redirected to the local service provider’s own DNS servers.