More Than 10,000 Fake Royal Accounts Taken Down - Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 (Bernama) -- More than 10,000 fake accounts misusing the identities of the King and Queen of Malaysia, as well as members of the royal family, have been removed since the beginning of the year, said Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.

He said the action was carried out by social media platforms following continuous monitoring by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and reports received from various parties between Jan 1 and March 28.

“Yesterday, I presented to the King several matters of concern. According to MCMC’s findings, over 10,000 fake accounts misusing the identities of the King and Queen of Malaysia and other royal family members have been taken down.

“This trend shows no sign of slowing. Almost daily, MCMC reports the number of fake accounts misusing names such as the Sultan of Pahang, the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang and the Regent of Johor,” he said after launching the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2026 (DBS 2026) here today.

Yesterday, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim was briefed on the Online Safety Act (ONSA) 2025.

Fahmi said His Majesty had also directed the Ministry of Communications and MCMC to take swift and firm action, including under ONSA, to ensure that social media platforms comply with the country’s laws.

He stressed that such measures are crucial to prevent royal identities from being exploited for fraud and scams.

“Unfortunately, Meta has been extremely slow (in responding). They have not taken this issue seriously, causing significant frustration for both MCMC and myself. Nonetheless, we will enforce ONSA firmly.

“At present, several subsidiary instruments need to be finalised and gazetted by the Attorney-General’s Chambers. We expect that within the next few weeks, if not a month, enforcement can begin,” he said.

Fahmi added that a meeting with the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) will be held soon to strengthen efforts against fraud involving artificial intelligence (AI), including deepfake AI scams.

The meeting will bring together multiple agencies, including the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC), MCMC, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, and other relevant bodies.

-- BERNAMA