MCMC Requested For Over 18,000 Law-violating Content To Be Taken Down Since Jan 1 - Fahmi

KOTA BHARU, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- A total of 18,785 pieces of content on various social media platforms that violate the country's laws have been requested by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to be taken down so far this year.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that of that total, 84 per cent were related to online gambling and scams, five per cent involved cyberbullying, and four per cent were advertisements for prohibited items.

“We see that gambling and scams are indeed the largest category of content on social media platforms that the MCMC has requested to remove, even though we have been cooperating well, these platforms still allow these criminal activities to occur.

“So, once licensed, we will ask them (social media service providers) to impose certain restrictions on specific content on their platforms,” he told reporters after launching the Online Safety Campaign Roadshow Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) campus here today.

Also present was Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa.

Kelantan is the first location of the roadshow, which is an initiative by the Ministry of Communications through MCMC to raise public awareness about online safety, thereby preventing users from becoming victims of online scams and crimes.

The campaign will be expanded nationwide to create a safe online environment, in addition to enforcing the licensing of Internet messaging service providers and social media, amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588), and new legislation under the Online Safety Act.

According to Fahmi, based on the report records from the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), the number of online crime cases increased by 35,368 last year with a total loss amounting to RM1.5 billion compared to 34,495 cases in 2023 with a loss of RM1.22 billion.

“At the end of last year, the PDRM, in collaboration with the MCMC, conducted an operation dubbed ‘Ops Pedo Bersepadu’, which led to the arrest of 13 suspects in six states and involved the seizure of more than 40,000 child sexual abuse materials,” he said.

-- BERNAMA