MCMC uncovers another gambling Raya advertisement, takes strict action

 

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission logo is pictured in Cyberjaya March 4, 2021. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

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PUTRAJAYA, April 17 — The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has uncovered another viral Raya-themed video advertisement promoting gambling activities, which is considered detrimental to society.

In a statement today, MCMC said it had requested social media platform providers namely Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to take down the advertisement based on the terms of service and community standards set by them.

It said there was a sharp increase in contents reported to the platform providers today, as social media users had been re-uploading the advertisement, which complicated the process of eradicating its dissemination.

“Such videos were uploaded on overseas-based platforms and cannot be controlled,” it said, adding that these contents did not need to go through the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia as they were not uploaded on local platforms.

MCMC said so far it had requested Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to take down 61 contents from the platforms, adding that 13 per cent of these contents had been deleted as they violated the platforms’ terms of service and community standards, while the rest was in the process of evaluation. 

MCMC said efforts to prevent such contents from spreading also depended on Malaysians in general, therefore social media users in the country were urged to act more responsibly by reporting directly to the authorities on the dissemination of videos that contradicted societal norms, for further actions.

It said by sharing such content on social media, users were only helping the irresponsible parties producing it, adding that content creators and distributors were required to comply with the Communications and Multimedia Content Code.

MCMC said content creators were given the freedom to create, however, they needed to follow the content code that is in line with the norms of a diverse Malaysian society.

At the same time, it said, production crew members and actors should be more sensitive to avoid colluding with irresponsible parties in promoting online gambling activities, which was clearly an offence. — Bernama