CNA Explains: Why is Malaysia asking social media platforms to get a licence or risk getting banned?

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Thursday (Aug 1) will introduce a new regulatory framework for all social media and internet messaging platforms with at least eight million registered users in the country to comply with.
Enforcement under the new class licence will begin from Jan 1 next year, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said in a statement on Saturday. 
This is expected to affect popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok and Telegram.
“This measure will create a safer online ecosystem and a better user experience, especially for children and families,” said the agency.
The move, however, has sparked debate in Malaysia.
Some civil society organisations say it is too heavy-handed and risks stifling freedom of speech and the freedom to criticise the government. Other internet observers called it a timely move to improve online safety at a time of rising cybercrime.
Malaysia’s move to introduce the new regulatory framework appears to mirror efforts by others in the region such as Indonesia and Singapore that aim to protect the public from perceived online harm.
Here’s what you need to know:
MCMC said on Saturday that the move is in line with the Malaysian Cabinet’s decision that social media platforms and internet messaging services must comply with local laws to combat a rise in cybercrime offences.
These include scams and online fraud, cyberbullying, and sexual crimes against children.
“Failure to obtain a licence after the effective date (Jan 1, 2025) would be an offence, and appropriate legal action can be taken under the Communications and Multimedia Act,” the MCMC said.
In March, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching told parliament that MCMC was finalising a licensing framework for social media platforms operating in Malaysia.
“This targeted licensing enforcement proposal is proportionate, considering the availability of highly harmful content on social media platforms and internet messaging services,” she was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
From January 2020 to October 2023, the MCMC recorded S$687 million (US$506 million) in online scam losses and 3,419 hate speech complaints.
The recent case of a Malaysian TikTok influencer who died by suicide in a cyberbullying incident had also sparked anger in a nation where people use a large number of social media platforms.
A study of 10 Asian countries by creative agency We Are Social showed people in Malaysia aged 16 to 64 used an average of almost eight social media platforms, second only to the Philippines and ahead of countries like Indonesia, India, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil told CNA on Monday that the new class licensing regime will add to Malaysia’s legislative firepower to ensure the internet is safer for children and families.
Social media platforms’ response to government take-down requests – largely on content like online scams and gambling – has been “good but largely has not been sufficient”, he said.
Meta-run platforms Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp have a compliance rate of 79 to 88 per cent, while TikTok and X are at 76 per cent and 25 per cent respectively, he added.
MCMC said in its statement that the new regulatory framework only applies to services that meet the licensing eligibility criteria and “does not involve its users”.
Dr Benjamin Loh, a media scholar at Taylor’s University, told CNA that without sufficient details of how the regime might work, it will likely be that users may not be able to access social media platforms that do not get licenced.
“For those with the licence, their usage might be constrained depending on the restrictions imposed by the licence regulation, which could either force the social media platform to impose more stringent and stricter content moderation policies or make regular people liable for their postings, resulting in the need for people having to self-censor,” he said.
Government Member of Parliament (MP) and legal activist Syahredzan Johan, a vocal defender of the licensing regime, described the latest move as “the least intrusive and burdensome regime for end users”.
“You can still maintain your anonymity, if you wish to do so,” he wrote on X on Saturday.
Mr Syahredzan acknowledged that the regime could potentially be abused by the government to stifle freedom of expression, saying that the exact wording of the licensing requirements should be scrutinised in the coming months.
“But I am in support of this move to licence social media platforms,” he added.
“There is simply a lack of responsibility by social media platforms which enabled online scams, identity theft, cyberbullying and sexual crimes against children … They are not doing enough to curb these problems.”
MCMC has said that failure to obtain a licence from Jan 1, 2025 would be an offence, and that it could take “appropriate legal action”.
While the full licensing framework and fees are only expected to be released on Aug 1, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told local media on Sunday that the government will ban any platforms that refuse to comply.
But Mr Fahmi – the Communications Minister – told CNA that Malaysia does not intend to block or ban any social media platforms, saying that the country is an “increasingly important market” for the platforms, which in turn bring “value” to the country.
Dr Loh said the new licensing regime could force social media platforms to decide if they will have different implementations for different countries or standardise everything to avoid infringing these regulations.
He cited the example of the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a legal framework that imposes data privacy obligations on organisations anywhere, as long as they target or collect data related to people in the EU. 
“The GDPR, despite only applying to EU citizens, is considered to be an international regulation simply because companies find it too difficult or impossible to isolate between users and just agreed that this would be the global standard,” he said.
Malaysia’s Centre for Independent Journalism as well as Article 19 – both of which are civil society organisations (CSO) – said they were “deeply concerned” about the upcoming licensing regime.
“This development is seen as a direct attempt to exert control over social media platforms, which could have far-reaching implications for freedom of expression, as guaranteed in the Federal Constitution in Malaysia,” it said.
Meanwhile in June, 44 CSOs had also penned an open letter to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim about how they felt the move was “ushering Malaysia towards the path of an authoritarian regime”.
“This move would have disastrous consequences for public debate, right to information, creativity, positive cultural and social growth and the free flow of information, as well as … political critique and opinion,” they wrote.
Mr Fahmi told CNA that having once been in the opposition, he understood these concerns and how policies rolled out by the government could be perceived as favouring the incumbent.
For instance in March 2018, then-prime minister Najib Razak and his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government introduced a controversial Anti-Fake News Act that set out fines of up to RM500,000 and a maximum of six years’ jail for anything the government defined as “fake news”.
The move was condemned by the opposition – including Mr Fahmi’s Pakatan Harapan coalition – and political activists who feared it would be used to muzzle opinion that BN disagreed with.
The opposition made scrapping the law a key electoral promise in that year’s election that was held in May. After claiming a surprise victory, the newly-installed administration repealed the law in August 2018.
“I used to stand against tighter regulation,” Mr Fahmi told CNA on Monday.
“As a reformist, as somebody who fought against the status quo at that time, I’m very mindful of the things that we do today, how will it impact freedom of speech tomorrow and beyond.”
But Mr Fahmi said the TikTok influencer’s suicide was the “proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back”. The incident made the government rethink its relationship with online service providers and users, he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Anwar on Tuesday assured that the licensing regime will not curb freedom of speech in Malaysia, but instead tackle the spread of crime and harmful information online.
“This country is a democratic country, freedom must be given to people to voice their views, whether they agree, criticise or oppose,” he was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail.
“When we say we must block (such posts), it is said to restrict freedom. Is it freedom to cheat? Freedom to steal and cause others to kill themselves?”
Dr Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin, a security and political analyst from Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Media and Information Warfare Studies Centre, told Bernama that the “well-timed” move is needed to balance the social media landscape, especially in relation to civil and criminal cases as well as cybercrimes.
“It is also crucial to ensure control over emerging elements such as artificial intelligence (AI) and, more concerning, generative AI that can produce misleading information or content used for malicious purposes,” he said.
Malaysians Against Rape, Assault and Snatch Theft founder Dave Avran told The Star that the move was a good measure for the country.
“Cybercrimes such as cyberbullying should be dealt with decisively to prevent more people from becoming victims,” he said, calling for more comprehensive regulations on social media and internet usage.
Following the announcement of the licensing regime, Mr Fahmi made a working visit to Singapore to meet with social media platforms.
In a Facebook post on Monday, he said he also discussed with Singapore’s Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo the country’s experience regulating social media and the challenges it faced.
“It is not too late for us to ensure that social media platforms are responsible for the criminal activity that takes place on their platforms,” he wrote.
Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) allows the government to compel social media platforms to post a correction on or stop publication of what it deems as falsehoods.
It can also use the Online Criminal Harms Act to issue codes of practice to require social media platforms to implement systems, processes or measures to counter the commission of offences like online scams.
If, despite the codes of practice, there continues to be a persistent risk of scams on the platform, the government can issue an implementation directive to the platform to reduce this risk.
The EU’s Digital Services Act also requires social media platforms to put in place measures to counter the spread of illegal goods, services or content online.
These include mechanisms for users to flag such content and for platforms to cooperate with “trusted flaggers”.
However, Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek criticised comparisons to similar legislation in Singapore and the United Kingdom in justifying Malaysia’s regime.
“Those countries do not impose licensing upon social media providers. Instead they have created a regulatory framework to deal with online safety,” he wrote in a commentary published by Malaysia Today on Monday.
“In short, it is acceptable to impose regulations, but not to threaten social media providers with a licensing scheme which gives power to government to shut them down as stated by (Mr Ahmad) Zahid.”
Indonesia, meanwhile, seems to be a more accurate comparison. 
The country has required tech companies to register under licensing rules that allow authorities to take down content on social media sites or applications that can disrupt public order.
The regulations, introduced in 2020, requires these companies including social media platforms to take down such content within four hours if urgent, or 24 hours for other requests.
Dr Loh at Taylor’s University told CNA that it would be a “good move” if smaller countries worked together to introduce a common regulatory framework for social media platforms.
This would increase their “bargaining power” to better challenge social media companies or be taken seriously by them, he said.
Dr Loh added: “However, this is easier said than done as most countries – especially those with authoritarian proclivities – have different stances on social media regulation and it will be a challenge to find common ground in order to ensure mutual interest.”
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