LAWMAKERS have been banned from livestreaming their speeches from Dewan Rakyat, Speaker Johari Abdul ruled.

He said MPs must address the chair when debating bills or raising questions, not looking at their mobile devices and addressing an online audience.

The speaker said MPs who have been livestreaming their speeches in parliament were in violation of Standing Order 35(1) as their attention was on “communicating with their audience”.

“Modern technology and information technology is a good thing, but we already have livestream of parliament sessions on our official YouTube channel as well as on RTM and other media channels.

“If MPs want to use (recordings of) their speeches for any reason, they are welcome to pick up the recording from such livestreams and edit (the footage).

“When livestreaming, your attention is not on the Dewan. You are communicating with your audience. This is very bad,” he said while ruling on the matter.

However, Ronald Kianadee (Beluran-PN) said the ruling was too harsh.

He said the house cannot ignore technological advances and must keep up with the times.

In response, Johari said he was not against technology, clarifying that livestreaming goes against the standing order.

He told Kiandee to take it up with the parliamentary committee that reviews standing orders. – Bernama, October 16, 2023.