91.6 PCT OF FACEBOOK CONTENT REMOVED LINKED TO GAMBLING, SCAMS - FAHMI

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has requested Facebook to remove a total of 249,268 pieces of content this year, with 91.6 per cent linked to online gambling and scams.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said 172,072 of these items were related to online gambling, while 56,136 involved scams.

“MCMC does not have the authority (to direct social media platforms to remove content). We can only request that the content be taken down, but it is up to the platform to decide,” he said.

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He said this when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2025 (Budget) at the committee level for the ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today. 

Fahmi said according to the Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Malaysians lost RM432 million to scams on Facebook last year.

Fahmi also said that Facebook earned RM2.5 billion in revenue from Malaysia, largely from advertisements, including those related to online investment scams.

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Responding to a remark by Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah) who claimed the government was removing critical content, Fahmi clarified that anyone could file a complaint with MCMC, and the commission would then forward the complaint to the relevant social media platform.

“If a piece of content is removed, the platform acknowledges that it violates the community standards.

“… for example, the case raised by the Home Minister regarding a false claim that 1.2 million Chinese nationals had obtained Malaysian citizenship, which was deemed slanderous,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fahmi said a WhatsApp chatbot service to combat the spread of fake news would be launched in January.

“This will enable all WhatsApp users to forward messages they suspect to be false or contain questionable elements for verification, through artificial intelligence (AI) technology,” he said.

-- BERNAMA