Social media giants remove over 159,000 harmful posts in Malaysia - Fahmi

FACEBOOK, TikTok and YouTube have removed a total of 159,518 items of harmful content from their platforms at the request of the Malaysian government, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said on Wednesday.

He said the content removals were part of a total of 174,473 takedown requests made so far this year by authorities, with close to 160,000 successfully actioned.

“Of the content I mentioned, approximately 51 per cent involved online gambling, 25 per cent pertained to online scams, 12 per cent to cyberbullying, and nine per cent to the dissemination of false news,” said Fahmi.

He noted that Facebook accounted for 57 per cent of the removed content, TikTok 28 per cent, and YouTube 13 per cent, while the remaining small percentage involved other platforms.

“These three platforms represent nearly 95 per cent of all problematic content we’ve identified across social media,” he added.

Fahmi was speaking during the Ministry of Communications’ monthly assembly held at Menara Komunikasi, attended by Deputy Minister Teo Nie Ching, Secretary-General Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa, and Bernama Chief Executive Officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin.

Despite the extensive content removal, Fahmi expressed concern over the persistent presence of online child exploitation content, particularly on Facebook.

“This raises the question – are our existing laws and levels of cooperation sufficient, or do we need a more strategic and efficient approach to tackle this issue?” he said.

He referenced last year’s coordinated Op Pedo Bersepadu operation, jointly conducted by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), as an example of enforcement efforts to address such issues.

Addressing the government’s move earlier this year to introduce a licensing regime for social media platforms, Fahmi said the initiative was aimed at ensuring online spaces are safer, especially for children.

He also highlighted the recent passage of the Online Safety Act (OnSA) 2024 by Parliament in December, which is now awaiting enforcement.

“For everyone’s information, a new act – OnSA – was passed in Parliament, has received royal assent from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim, and is currently in the process of being enforced,” he said.

The OnSA legislation grants the MCMC authority to act against social media platforms that fail to fulfil their responsibilities in ensuring online safety. - June 12, 2025