The Communications and Digital Ministry, led by Minister Fahmi Fadzil, is currently in the process of evaluating measures to make sure that the social media platforms are complying with the laws.
This initiative comes in response to a recent statement by the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), which urged accountability for hate speech and divisive content on social media platforms, according to Bernama.
Fahmi has conducted multiple engagement sessions with major social media platforms and operators like TikTok, Telegram, Meta, and X to ensure improved compliance.
He expressed the intention to make a significant announcement soon and highlighted the prevalence of unverified viral content.
Fahmi also mentioned a report by Al-Jazeera concerning the Palestine-Israel conflict, which pointed out Malaysia as a notable source of fake news.
In light of the Al-Jazeera report, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been instructed to investigate the matter.
Fahmi acknowledged the unfortunate international recognition of Malaysia for spreading fake news and assured that the ministry and regulators would assess the concerns raised by APHR.
He also mentioned the need to address the unregistered or unlicensed status of social media platforms under MCMC’s oversight and promised forthcoming announcements as the government takes steps to address these issues.
