PUTRAJAYA — Social media platforms operating in Malaysia have been granted a grace period to align their internal mechanisms to automatically detect and remove online scams and illegal gambling content, Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil announced on Wednesday, August 5 2026.
Speaking at the weekly post-Cabinet press conference, Fahmi warned that tech giants must implement automated moderation tools to comply with statutory codes enforced under the Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866).
“We have already given them time,” Fahmi stated. “These two codes—the Child Protection Code (CPC) and the Risk Mitigation Code (RMC)—will be used to ensure platforms comply with online safety rules, including those related to scam and gambling content.”
Under the statutory framework, non-compliant platform operators face severe regulatory enforcement and financial penalties of up to RM10 million enforced by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
Rising Takedown Requests Strain Regulatory Resources
The government’s push for mandatory, platform-side automation follows an unprecedented surge in digital crime, with takedown applications issued by MCMC for scam and gambling material already exceeding total figures recorded in previous years.
Manual moderation by regulators has created a critical operational bottleneck:
- High Processing Overhead: Each manual takedown request requires approximately 30 minutes for MCMC staff to review, compile documentation, and verify justification.
- Resource Depletion: Regulators are forced to dedicate excessive man-hours to filing procedural paperwork rather than proactive oversight.
- Repetitive Content Patterns: The vast majority of flagged material consists of recycled illegal gambling ads and scam templates using identical imagery, reused video clips, and copy-paste text phrasing.
“It cannot be denied that the number of takedown requests made by MCMC to platforms, specifically concerning online gambling and scam content, has surpassed what was requested last year,” Fahmi explained. “The volume of requests means MCMC staff are spending excessive time filing all the necessary documents.”
Shifting Enforcement Responsibility to Tech Platforms
Under the CPC and RMC regulatory guidelines, licensed social media service providers are required to transition from reactive content removal based on government notices to proactive algorithmic suppression.
By mandating platform-level automated filters capable of flagging duplicate scam templates and illegal gambling operations at scale, the government aims to curb online fraud while reducing the administrative strain on domestic enforcement agencies.
