Website owners do not see the need in the proposal by the Ministry to have guidelines for Internet advertising, as they are already doing their filtration of the websites content. Set up by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, this community believes it may propose that websites make sure that advertisements they carry are not misleading as part of guidelines for e-commerce.

"We are looking at existing advertising guidelines by consumer associations, advertising associations and ministries to identify grey areas that are not covered by them," says Dr. Zuraidi Ishak, committee chairman.

"One such area is e-commerce and online shopping," he added. On the contrary, Rene E. Menezes, President of  Malaysian Digital Association said web publishers have been inspecting the advertisements they allowed on their sites already even though there were no guidelines for them of such. Although statistics are not readily available, most websites including personal blogs and news sites carry advertisements, Menezes said.

Legal action can be taken against advertisers who put out misleading advertisements online under the Consumer Protection Act 1999 and the Trade Descriptions Act 2011, for now. Nielsen reports that the Internet advertising revenue (based on website spending by Yahoo, MSN, Forbes, Utusan, Sin Chew and The Star) rose from RM33.3mil in 2008 to RM63.7mil in 2011. Under the new guidelines it is stated that websites hosting advertisements may be obligated to screen them for misleading content.

The committee has been given until June from now to come up with the guidelines. According to Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob  the new guidelines would be finalised soon.