PUTRAJAYA – Malaysia is yet to move towards legislation to hold social media companies accountable for failing to remove incorrect and false information from platforms, as what has been done in Australia, says Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He said the government would have consistent and proactive engagements with social media platform service providers, so that issues could be resolved properly in the event of any breach.

“At this point in time, we are not heading towards that (legislation),” he told the media after the launch of the Courier Industry Appreciation Day here today.

Fahmi said, for example, he would be meeting with representatives of Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp) today after receiving a complaint from Bursa Malaysia Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift that his identity had been misused.

Australia is reportedly set to legislate to hold social media companies accountable for failing to remove false and misleading information from their platforms.

According to Fahmi, a good engagement process and cooperation from social media service providers were sufficient to resolve issues related to ‘scammers’, crimes or violations as well as those related to e-commerce platforms that sell illegal products.

“I see that cooperation is important, understanding local laws is important for any platform to operate.

“We (the ministry), through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will improve the engagement process, the level of understanding among the platforms. If there is any issue of a violation, we want to resolve it properly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fahmi said he was waiting for further information from the Ministry of Finance regarding an alleged scam syndicate offering ‘eBelia Rahmah’ cash withdrawal service from e-wallet accounts.

The police have received 14 reports related to the fraud, with losses totalling RM2,800.

The victims are said to have seen offers for the cash withdrawal service on TikTok and Facebook Messenger. – Bernama / pic credit: Fahmi Fadzil FB