Crimes continue to thrive on social media due to insufficient regulation, says Fahmi Fadzil.
During his winding-up speech on the 2025 Supply Bill in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 7), the Communications Minister noted that while nearly all social media and messaging platforms have age requirements, few actively enforce them.
Fahmi emphasised that the government has no plans to shut down any social media platforms and no intention of allowing them to self-regulate.
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During his winding-up speech on the 2025 Supply Bill in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 7), the Communications Minister noted that while nearly all social media and messaging platforms have age requirements, few actively enforce them.
Fahmi emphasised that the government has no plans to shut down any social media platforms and no intention of allowing them to self-regulate.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.
00:03The issue of cyberbullying and slander is becoming more and more widespread on social media.
00:09I am interested in two things.
00:12First, I understand that Australia has banned children under 16 from social media
00:20as a step to moderate content so that our young people are not affected by slander, misinformation, etc.
00:31And maybe as a suggestion, a step that the Ministry can consider,
00:38as one of the steps to prevent with permission,
00:46we can force those who want to register for social media,
00:52any platform, like TikTok, Facebook, etc.,
00:55they are required to give their full name, real name, and IC and contact.
01:02Thank you, Ms. Bukit Pendera.
01:03I take seriously what was said by Mr. Bangi and Ms. Bukit Pendera.
01:11Indeed, at this time, we, the government and the MCMC,
01:16cannot direct platforms to download any content.
01:21And I have repeatedly said in this noble court that
01:25the downloading action was taken by the platforms themselves
01:29after receiving a complaint from the MCMC which was extended to them
01:34and they made a complaint that the content broke the standard community or their guidelines.
01:41This means that it cannot be denied that there are a number of content
01:45that may violate the laws in our country,
01:48but the platforms do not take action on various grounds.
01:52Often, the platforms feel that they do not need to be responsible.
01:56They do not feel responsible for slandering their own parliament
02:01because they feel that they are supranational, more than any other country,
02:06and often, this is the challenge that we face.
02:09But the government does not want to first block any social media platforms.
02:14That, with permission, sends the wrong message.
02:16That is not our intent.
02:18We want the people to benefit.
02:19And it is clear that these platforms are used a lot for improvement and development.
02:25And many have seen an increase in their economy and livelihoods.
02:30They can get a better education if it is used well.
02:34Our problem today is that crime has migrated to social media
02:41and the failure of social media platforms that have 8 million or more users in Malaysia
02:47to be firm with these criminals is what we are most worried about.
02:54Recently, I gave an example.
02:56There were several users on the platform X
03:00who said that there were pedophile groups on Facebook
03:05with very bad names.
03:08Children of women in undergarments.
03:11And in this group,
03:14Madam Speaker,
03:17in this group on Facebook,
03:20there were hundreds of people,
03:22there were tens of thousands of people.
03:24So when I called META to meet me,
03:28they gave me all kinds of excuses.
03:30They did not want to be listened to.
03:32Or they wanted to be punished.
03:35Or all kinds of excuses.
03:38But with permission, when we confront them with this reality,
03:42when we show them that this is what is happening,
03:45they will only move once we hit them.
03:52That should not be the way.
03:54So we want to see, not in the direction of moderation with permission,
03:59but curation.
04:01Meaning, we hope,
04:03if the government has established content like this,
04:06it is not reasonable for Malaysians to watch or use or be involved in the platform.
04:13The platform is the one that takes more proactive action to solve it.
04:18Regarding the issue,
04:20indeed,
04:22different countries have different ways.
04:24And if Bukit Bendera raises the issue of Australia,
04:28they want to pass a law that prohibits children under the age of 16
04:34from using social media.
04:36Actually, today,
04:38social media platforms do set age limits.
04:42At least 13 years.
04:44WhatsApp, 16 years.
04:46Do you know,
04:48children under the age of 16 are not allowed to use WhatsApp?
04:51They are not allowed to use WhatsApp.
04:53According to WhatsApp's own guidelines.
04:56But what is being done by WhatsApp, for example,
04:59to prevent, to assert that the user is indeed over the age of 16?
05:06What is happening?
05:07I recently,
05:09Madam Speaker,
05:11received a complaint.
05:13One of the children,
05:15it is not known who the children are,
05:20has contacted their teacher,
05:22asking for a different picture.
05:26These children are under the age of 16.
05:29It is estimated to be around 10-11 years old.
05:32This is what is happening,
05:33and we are not sure how far,
05:36because one of the unique things about WhatsApp is
05:40that it is end-to-end encrypted.
05:43Only when one party complains,
05:46can we see what is happening,
05:49if they bring their person to be investigated.
05:53But when we inform the meta party,
05:56which controls WhatsApp,
05:58they do not take actions that are too proactive.
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