{
  "id": 16315427,
  "title": "Yeo gesa kerajaan rujuk pakar sebelum haramkan Waze",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/yeo-gesa-kerajaan-rujuk-pakar-sebelum-haramkan-waze-16315427",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-24T09:55:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2026/10/24/yeo-gesa-kerajaan-rujuk-pakar-sebelum-haramkan-waze"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former Minister Yeo Bee Yin has urged the government to seek advice from industry and navigation technology experts before taking a reactive step to ban the popular navigation app Waze. The senior DAP publicity secretary emphasized that such a hasty decision should not be made, as it could impact six million road users in Malaysia who rely on Waze for livelihood, daily commutes, or logistics. Acknowledging concerns about Waze's origins in Israel, Yeo questioned why GCC member states have not implemented similar bans. She pointed out that Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar have not prohibited Waze, despite their proximity to conflict zones and strict national safety protocols. Yeo warned that a reactive ban risks causing unnecessary disruptions to the general public, hampering economic activities in the gig economy sector, and tarnishing Malaysia's digital landscape reputation. She also questioned whether the government anticipates a body like the Malaysian Traffic Institute (LLM) to develop, optimize, and manage a user-generated, crowdsourced navigation platform on par with global technology corporations. Yeo noted that building a robust navigation system and ensuring constantly updated map data requires large-scale operations, continuous technology upgrades, and specialized engineering teams. She further referenced South Korea, where domestic technology firms developed and grew navigation apps like Naver Map and KakaoMap, rather than government agencies. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently instructed government officials to stop using Waze due to concerns about sensitive government information and personal data being exploited by Israel.",
  "summary": "Bekas menteri itu persoal asas haramkan sepenuhnya aplikasi itu sedangkan negara Teluk seperti Arab Saudi dan UAE tak buat demikian.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}