PUTRAJAYA: The Communications Ministry says that the licencing process for social media companies to operate in Malaysia will be straightforward.
Its minister Fahmi Fadzil said that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had informed him that the process would take three to five working days.
He added that the ministry expected to receive licensing applications from social media platform operators in October or November 2024.
"We assure social media platform providers that since we are implementing a 'Class Licence' – the process is not as difficult as an 'Individual Licence', which takes several months to process," he said during a press conference here on Wednesday (Aug 21).
The regulatory or licensing framework for social media services, introduced on Aug 1 and comes into effect in 2025, does not involve social media users.
On July 27, the MCMC announced that all social media and Internet messaging services with at least eight million registered users in the country must apply for a Class Licence for the Provision of Application Services under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Meanwhile, Fahmi said his ministry was actively conducting engagement sessions on the licensing of social media services and the code of conduct guidelines for social media platforms with relevant parties.
"To develop the code of conduct, discussions will be held with all social media platform providers, including all stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, academics and others.
"We believe this can be completed by the end of October. At the same time, the engagement process with social media platforms to ensure they understand the licensing process will continue," he said.
When asked about the ban on the use of Telegram among civil servants in the Netherlands, he said that the government had not made any such decision.
He added that issues related to the security of civil servants were managed by the Office of the Chief Government Security Officer of Malaysia (CGSO).
"We have not issued any directive. Typically, security aspects are handled by CGSO but at this time, we have not received any such directive," he said.
It was reported that the Amsterdam City Council had urged Dutch Cabinet members and senior staff to stop using the Telegram app due to concerns over "criminal activities within the app and the risk of espionage". – Bernama
