Malaysia Says Facebook, TikTok Must Get License, NST Reports

Netty Ismail and Anisah Shukry
·2-min read

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia has identified eight social media and online messaging platforms that will be required to obtain a license by next year, even as the government faces resistance to its plans to regulate the industry, the New Straits Times reported.

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The platforms include Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram; Elon Musk’s X; Google’s YouTube; Pavel Durov’s Telegram; Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat; and ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said in an interview with the Malaysian newspaper.

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From next year, any major messaging and social media service provider operating without a license from the government will face legal action. The move is meant to combat rising cases of cybercrime, including online fraud and gambling, as well as cyberbullying and sexual crimes against children, according to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

Some platforms have pushed back, citing reasons such as concerns over stifling innovation and the challenges of establishing a local office, the minister was cited as saying. The government is standing firm by its decision, according to the report.

The platforms had met the threshold of at least eight million users in Malaysia and were not being specifically targeted, Fahmi said. The ministry was currently engaging with the platforms, according to the report.

Given the profits these platforms made and the significance of the Malaysian market, they should comply with local laws, Fahmi was cited as saying. For example, Meta earned about 2.5 billion ringgit ($554 million) annually from the Malaysian market through advertising, according to the report.

The government separately on Friday published a code of conduct for internet messaging and social media service providers, aimed at ensuring they “uphold online safety and security, particularly for children and vulnerable groups.”

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It identified as harmful any content that incites hate speech, content used to bully others, and content that can incite violence, extremism or terrorism, among others. Service providers will be required to submit half-yearly online safety reports to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

(Updates with details of Malaysia’s code of conduct for service providers in final two paragraphs.)

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