According to "Today's Business", the Malaysian government has collaborated with social media platforms and has successfully removed nearly 160,000 pieces of content deemed "harmful" by 2025. More than half of these violations are related to online gambling, highlighting the growing severity of this issue in the local digital space.
Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil revealed this data at a routine meeting of the Ministry of Transport, stating that the cleanup involved major platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, with Facebook being the most cooperative, accounting for 57% of the total deletions. Out of the total 159,518 pieces of content removed, 51% were related to online gambling, followed by scams (25%), cyberbullying (12%), and fake news (9%).
Fahmi noted that the government has issued over 170,000 content removal requests to social platforms this year alone, nearly all of which were complied with. He stated that these actions are part of a series of policies by the Malaysian government to combat cybercrime and harmful digital content, focusing on illegal gambling, online scams, and child online exploitation, among other issues.
It is worth mentioning that Fahmi expressed particular concern about the ongoing presence of child exploitation content on Facebook, suggesting that more targeted strategic actions might be necessary. He emphasized that last year's "Joint Action on Child Exploitation" (Op Pedo Bersepadu), initiated by the Royal Malaysian Police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), has demonstrated the government's long-term commitment.
This round of enforcement enhancement comes after the official passage and royal assent of the "2024 Cybersecurity Act" (OnSA) in Malaysia. The new law grants MCMC greater regulatory and enforcement powers, explicitly requiring social media platforms to promptly handle harmful content upon official notification. Platforms that fail to fulfill their obligations will face regulatory penalties, marking a step towards higher standards of accountability in digital governance in Malaysia.
Overall, the Malaysian government's actions not only reflect its strong stance against gambling and digital crime in cyberspace but also indicate that stricter and more binding regulatory trends may be forthcoming in social media platform governance in the region.
