KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has taken decisive action against almost 8,000 gambling-related content due to violations of Meta’s guidelines and violations of local law.
During the Dewan Rakyat session today, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil (Lembah Pantai-PH) addressed concerns raised by Wong Shu Qi (Kluang-PH) regarding the prevalence of gambling advertisements on social media platforms.
Fahmi emphasised that MCMC’s actions are continuous and underscored the intention to strengthen collaboration with Meta in order to better address the problem of online gambling.
“From January 1 to September 30, MCMC, in conjunction with Meta (encompassing Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), has removed a total of 7,844 gambling-related content for violating Meta’s guidelines and infringing upon national laws.
“Part of the requested cooperation from MCMC involves a commitment from Meta to swiftly act on content removal for each request received from Malaysian authorities.
“Additionally, Meta is urged to temporarily suspend any offending content or account upon receiving a request to prevent its further dissemination until a comprehensive evaluation is conducted.”
Fahmi also said that frequent engagement sessions with Meta are held to address and refine these issues.
“If these requests are not met, the government will consider pursuing further legal and enforcement actions against the concerned platform.”
Moreover, Fahmi disclosed that 1,143 online gambling websites were blocked from January 1 to September 30 following an official request from the police for offences under Act 589.
He highlighted the continual collaboration between MCMC and the police in terms of technical support, data supply, digital forensics, and the blocking of online gambling websites to combat this challenge.
Addressing Shu Qi’s concern regarding gambling advertisements and the declaration of personal information, Fahmi assured, “We will mandate this requirement when using social media platforms registered within our country.
“Currently, there are none. Hence, we must ensure that these platforms are registered, and they understand they must comply with our laws to operate here,” he added. – November 1, 2023