KUALA LUMPUR: Legal action is being mulled against Facebook for a “lack of cooperation” toward efforts to address online scams on the platform, says Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
Fahmi said he will leave it to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to get in touch with the social media giant on the matter.
“In my opinion, legal action may have to be taken but I leave it to the MCMC on this, and give them (Facebook) a last opportunity to prove that they do want to cooperate with the government,” he told reporters after attending the Inter-Agency Retreat on Combatting Online Scam here on Sunday (May 24).
Fahmi said that 271,472 takedown requests for harmful content across all online platforms were made between Jan 1 and May 23 this year.
Of this number, 91% of the requests comprised scams and online gambling-related content.
According to the minister, 81% of the online gambling content was on Facebook, while 58% of the online scam content was on the same platform.
He also said as much as RM2.7bil has been lost to scammers last year.
“I was also informed by Bank Negara Malaysia that banks managed to block scam-related transactions worth RM1.2bil during that same period,” he said.
On a separate matter, Fahmi said a new committee is being considered to address online scams.
The committee will comprise enforcement agencies, regulators, financial institutions and telecommunications companies, among others, with the aim of fostering closer cooperation to streamline enforcement.
It will also include representatives from the Online Safety Committee.
“The proposal will be brought to the Cabinet in the coming weeks. We are looking to establish it as soon as possible,” he said.
He further stressed the need to look into the psychological well-being of scam victims.
“Most of the time, they are just seen as statistics. We need to help them recover from the trauma, especially since scams always involve big amounts,” he said.
Earlier in the event, Fahmi also witnessed the exchange of the memorandum of understanding between MCMC and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA).
The exchange was between MCMC managing director Abdul Karim Fakir Ali and GASA Southeast Asia advisor Rajeshpal Singh Sandhu.
The MOU aims to expand international cooperation towards combating online scams, with a focus on information sharing and best practices, capacity building, advocacy, and improving public awareness on digital scams.
