The adequacy of the laws and regulations relating to online advertising in Malaysia from the consumer protection perspective / Nur Hidayah Ab Aziz

The emergence of the Internet has been currently affecting a number of areas in the business world including advertising. While online advertising presents a great number of opportunities in business-to-consumer (B2C) activities, yet, the global nature of the Internet has raised doubts in the field of law as to its suitability to the technological specificity of the Internet and its applicability to tackle the consumer issues relating to online advertising. As the law works differently online to the way in which it works offline, it is pertinent that the law must work in parallel with the systems established by the technology infrastructure. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the present state of the laws and regulations relating to online advertising for consumer protection in Malaysia. In order to reach this purpose, this study examined the extent to which the laws and regulations are adequate in protecting consumers in Malaysia. Proposals for improvement of the current position were considered in this study, and in view of that, this study also sought to compare the position in Malaysia with other jurisdiction such as the United Kingdom. Content analysis methodology was used in this study by means of analytical and comparative approaches. Interviews were also conducted with relevant authorities and luminaries in regard to online advertising. The study indicated that the current policy framework is inadequate as efficient and effective tools of control in protecting consumers against exploitation of their values, safety, behaviour and economic decisions. The findings had certain policy implications to improve the consumer protection within the sphere of online advertising.