{"id":777033819,"date":"2025-10-29T08:16:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777033819"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:42:59","slug":"meta-pushes-back-against-malaysias-social-media-licensing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/meta-pushes-back-against-malaysias-social-media-licensing","title":{"rendered":"Meta pushes back against Malaysia\u2019s social media licensing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The tech giant warns that restrictive measures may prove counterproductive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Malaysia.- Meta has voiced strong opposition to Malaysia\u2019s social media licensing framework, which the government says is designed to curb online scams, illegal gambling and other harmful digital activities. The policy, implemented in January, requires all social media and messaging platforms with over eight million local users to obtain a licence from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission<\/strong> (MCMC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil<\/strong> has repeatedly criticised Meta for failing to secure a licence and for its \u201cinsufficient cooperation<\/strong>\u201d in combating cybercrime. Earlier this year, he said that of more than 168,000 takedown requests submitted to Facebook, around 120,000 were related to online gambling<\/strong>, and not all were acted upon. The minister has warned that if Meta\u2019s compliance does not improve, further action may be considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While other major platforms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Telegram have obtained licences, Meta has continued to challenge the framework, arguing that its existing systems target scams and harmful content. \u201cWe\u2019ve been improving our internal safety protocols long before this regime was enacted,\u201d said Rafael Frankel<\/strong>, Meta\u2019s director of public policy for Southeast Asia. \u201cWe don\u2019t need any licence to continue that work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frankel warned that overly prescriptive regulations could hinder effective collaboration. \u201cThere are all sorts of ways that sophisticated, well-funded criminals can bypass ID checks,\u201d he noted, urging instead for cooperative strategies between governments, civil society, and tech firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malaysia\u2019s government has made combating digital crime a national priority. The MCMC said it removed more than 321,000 gambling-related posts between January 2022 and mid-2025<\/a>, alongside hundreds of thousands of pieces of fraudulent or obscene content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Malaysia considers even stricter measures, including a possible smartphone ban for minors, Meta has cautioned that such actions could drive young users toward less regulated digital environments. \u201cIf you just focus on banning social media, you\u2019re going to push teens into less safe spaces,\u201d Frankel warned.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Malaysian government urges Meta to remove illegal online gambling content<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tech giant warns that restrictive measures may prove counterproductive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":17082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Meta is challenging Malaysia's social media licensing framework, implemented to curb online scams and illegal gambling, arguing its existing safety protocols are sufficient and prescriptive regulations are counterproductive. While other major platforms have complied, Meta faces criticism from the Malaysian government for insufficient cooperation, particularly regarding gambling-related content takedown requests. The dispute highlights broader tensions between digital platforms and national regulatory bodies over content moderation and compliance.","focusai_entities":"Meta, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, MCMC, Fahmi Fadzil, Facebook, TikTok, WeChat, Telegram, Rafael Frankel","focusai_location":"Malaysia, Southeast Asia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.7), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Meta's Compliance Strategy?","query":"What specific legal and operational strategies is Meta employing to challenge Malaysia's social media licensing framework, and what are the potential precedents this dispute could set for digital platform regulation in other jurisdictions?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Impact?","query":"How might Malaysia's proposed stricter measures, including a potential smartphone ban for minors, impact the digital economy and the efficacy of combating illegal online gambling, considering Meta's warnings about driving users to less regulated environments?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,16333],"tags":[24756,226,24840,4138],"class_list":["post-777033819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-legal-framework","tag-malaysia","tag-meta","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777033819"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777033826,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033819\/revisions\/777033826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777033819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777033819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777033819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}