KUALA LUMPUR: A majority of the online content taken down by authorities was linked to online gambling and scams, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching told the Dewan Rakyat.
Online gambling made up the bulk of cases with over 63%, while scams accounted for about 21% of posts taken down, she said during Question Time on Monday (March 3).
Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan (PN-Tasek Gelugor) had expressed concern that social media licensing requirements might be used against political dissidents ahead of state and general elections.
Wan Saiful claimed that several social media accounts had been taken down by the authorities recently.
“The cases mentioned by YB Tasek Gelugor are social media posts taken down by TikTok (for) offences (related) to artificial intelligence... not (at the request of) the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC),” Teo responded.
She said it was crucial to monitor social media providers to create a safe online ecosystem.
“Many fake accounts are impersonating top leaders. Meta is still receiving advertisements from scammers for profit.
“If we allow this to go on, (platform providers) will... (prioritise) profits over the interests of users,” she added.
Teo said her ministry will set up a new platform for social media users to file an appeal if their social media posts are taken down.
“Complaints can be filed to this tribunal where they can defend their posts that were taken down,” she added.
Earlier, Teo said that as of Feb 25, the operators of WeChat, TikTok and Telegram have obtained an Application Service Provider class licence or ASP (C) licence.
Teo said Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is in the process of applying and her ministry has issued a notice to allowing the services to operate in the meantime.
“They are preparing the necessary documents for the application,” she said.
The owners of X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube have yet to submit applications, she added.
“X is arguing that it does not have (the licensing threshold number of) eight million Malaysians on the platform and therefore does not need the licence.
“MCMC is conducting a survey to gauge the number of users (on X) so we can address that argument," she said.
Under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the MCMC mandated on July 27 that all social media and messaging services with at least eight million registered users in Malaysia must apply for the ASP (C) licence effective Jan 1 this year.
According to the MCMC, failure to comply by the enforcement date constitutes an offence under the Act and may result in legal action.
