Censorship as an Instrument to Protect the Public Interest: The Conceptual Framework

This article deliberates the conceptual framework for censorship as a powerful instrument to protect the public interest in relation to over-the-top (OTT) streaming media content in Malaysia. The transformation of technology has made the convergence of telecommunication and broadcast networks seamless. Thus, the boundaries between the telecommunication and broadcasting industries disappeared. This resulted in the viewers being able to watch the OTT streaming media content on any type of devices. The success of OTT streaming media services depends on audience’s gratification, which will subsequently lead to continued subscription to these services. However, there are uncensored content accessible from OTT streaming media players’ library that may lessen the viewers’ satisfaction. Thus, based on the combination of Users and Gratification Theory (UGT) and Public Interest Theory, Theory, the researcher developed a conceptual framework to study this phenomenon as a guide to paths of research and offer the underpinning for establishing its reliability.