Establish legal framework to control social media platform operators, say experts

KUALA LUMPUR: The use of social media does have many benefits, but there is also a dark side when it is misused, bringing negative effects to users, including financial losses.

Through social media platforms, many have fallen victim to online fraud, cyberbullying, misuse of personal information, violation of privacy and sexual grooming involving children as well as activities like prostitution and the sale of pornographic content. Mohammad Ezaly Iman Ramli, a cyber security analyst at the Malaysian Digital Foundation, said that laws to regulate social media platform operators like Facebook, TikTok, X, Telegram and WhatsApp should be established to ensure that content and posts veering towards criminal aspects such as fraud, cyberbullying and child grooming can be controlled.