Facebook accounts for 78% of online gambling content flagged in Malaysia
Malaysia’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Facebook accounted for most online gambling content flagged for removal by the country’s communications regulator between January and August.
Malaysia.- Facebook accounted for 78 per cent of online gambling content flagged for removal by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) between January 1 and August 17. That’s according to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
According to Fahmi, YouTube accounted for 18 per cent of the gambling-related content identified by MCMC, while TikTok accounted for 4 per cent. The MCMC requested the removal of 470,593 pieces of harmful or criminal content during the period, with platforms complying with 93 per cent of the requests and removing 436,661 pieces of content.
Online gambling and scams made up the vast majority of the material flagged. Fahmi said 64 per cent of all content requested for removal involved online gambling, while 27 per cent was related to scams. Some 91 per cent of MCMC’s takedown requests concerned these two categories.
Fahmi criticised social media platforms for relying too heavily on reports from authorities or users before taking action. He said platforms should proactively detect and remove content that violates their rules. The minister said delays in removing such material allow it to spread and increase the potential harm to users. Fahmi also said he personally monitors Facebook posts and forwards suspected online gambling content to MCMC for review and possible removal.
