Survey on X users in Malaysia to be done by Q3, says Teo

 

Deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching said there was no fixed deadline for social media platform providers to secure their licences. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) survey to confirm that the number of X users in the country is below eight million will likely be completed by the third quarter of this year, says deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching.

Bernama reported her as saying X’s operator had previously indicated it did not qualify for an applications service provider class licence to operate in Malaysia as its local user base did not reach the eight million user threshold.

“MCMC is conducting a survey to determine, using our data and analyses, whether X has more than eight million users,” she said in the Dewan Negara.

Teo said MCMC was engaging with the platform’s provider and two other companies, namely Meta and Google, both of which had yet to obtain licences.

She was responding to a supplementary question from Senator Robert Lau on whether the communications ministry had set a deadline for eligible companies to apply for a licence and the action that would be taken if they failed to comply.

Teo said there was no fixed deadline for social media platform providers to secure their licences, but that MCMC might take several measures if they failed to apply.

“Under Section 126 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, following the amendment to the Act on Feb 11, service providers may face a fine not exceeding RM1 million or imprisonment of up to 10 years, as well as a daily fine of RM100,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction.

“Additionally, under Section 243, we can impose a compound not exceeding 50% of the maximum fine amount,” she said.

To a supplementary question from Senator Tiew Way Keng on the ministry’s efforts to address fraud and similar issues on Meta and Google’s platforms, Teo said that as of March 15, a total of 46,929 posts had been removed from Facebook, including those linked to scams and online gambling.

“The ministry and government will continue to uphold freedom of speech.

“However, the challenge we face is the vast amount of pornographic content, scams and online gambling activities on platforms such as Facebook.

“As such, we need to take stricter measures if Meta remains uncooperative,” she said.

Teo said the government and MCMC would urge Meta to tighten advertising procedures in Malaysia, similar to those implemented in Singapore.

“In Singapore, advertisers must verify their identity before posting ads or boosting content. The question is: why is this stringent screening applied only in Singapore and not globally?

“If they can tighten their screening procedures for advertisements in Singapore, why can’t they do the same in Malaysia, Thailand and other countries? This is something worth considering,” she said. - FMT