Malaysiakini: Report: Cabinet approves plans to license, regulate social media
The government’s plan to get social media platforms licensed in Malaysia is reportedly in the final stages and has received the nod from the cabinet.
This reportedly includes imposing a content code on such platforms that would also have regulations regarding political content.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil first announced the regulation plans in Nov 2023, saying there was a need for social media platforms to understand and conform to local laws.
The Strait Times, citing sources, said the cabinet had since approved the licensing requirement in April.
However, a purported July announcement will reportedly be pushed back pending feedback from industry players.
The report quoted an unnamed industry executive as saying it would also take months for major platforms to officially set up operations in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, other sources cited in the report said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had made several proposals on content regulation during briefing sessions they attended.
This included proposed pre-emptive action to prevent offences, which platform owners and civil society groups both opposed.
Other proposals included requiring platforms to open up their content moderation and algorithms to be subject to audits, as well as a kill switch to remove objectionable content.
At present, the MCMC already issues take-down notices to social media platforms.
In the case of Facebook, posts that are flagged by the MCMC but do not violate the platform’s own rules are restricted from Malaysian audiences.
Meanwhile, TikTok revealed in a report that between June and Dec 2023, the Malaysian government made the highest number of takedown requests to the platform.
Malaysia made 1,862 requests, followed by Australia’s 651.
The MCMC had defended its actions last December, saying it was meant to protect social media users.
It said that 70 percent of over 25,000 take-down requests it made in 2023 were against scams and online gambling.
Published in Malaysiakini 24th June 2024
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Would be a mighty fine idea each platform to have a political overseer appointed by the office of the Fuhrer. Each platform to have its own Reich-approved Herr Goebbels, so to speak (if you are permitted that right to speak).
The Reich should have its own propagandist embedded in the platform to provide for a balanced view. In other words, tipped in favour of the Reich by Reich leaning heavily on the platform.
Alternatively you can tell the Reich to go fcuk itself, you park your site outside the confine and restrictive atmosphere of the Gestapo state. All free press platforms concerned about the kaypoh bent, interference, and censorship by the Reich should reach their audience from elsewhere than a Nazi Malaisesia.
Those media the Gestapo state wants to control or even get rid of are always more useful and interesting than the State-approved media.
It is really concerning how fascistic and thin-skinned our politicians are, and how over-sensitive and terrified they are of being seen as just a bunch of useless weaklings and pathetic frauds.
Yes, scams and online gambling are bad. But our gomens are like scam operators and if gambling is bad then close down all the legal and illegal gambling operations all over the country. All those hurt can always go to Singapore or Thailand to gamble.
Btw, voting for our gomens is also very risky gambles. It is the citizens who always lose big the kind of bags of pure shiite we get to vote for to destroy the country for us.
On the serious side, the Reich will most likely get away with its Gestapo actions. That's simply because our brain-dead monkeys will not notice anything. If they do, they will will not do anything either, and go back to sleep.
It will be quite interesting to see how this will work — if it works at all — with accounts outside Malaysia or those using VPNs. Perhaps banning VPNs is next?