SOCIAL MEDIA LICENCE: EIGHT-MILLION-USER THRESHOLD TO BE REVIEWED TO PREVENT ONLINE HARM -- FAHMI

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- The government will review social media licensing requirements, specifically the eight-million-user threshold, following concerns that online harm can occur even on platforms with fewer users, said Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.

Referring to the misuse of the Grok artificial intelligence (AI) function on the X app, he said that currently, the X platform is exempt from licensing because the company reported it does not have eight million users in Malaysia.

He said the case involving the app is hybrid in nature, as X is a social media platform while Grok is an AI application.

“Since a fairly significant incident like this has occurred, we will re-evaluate the eight-million-user threshold because online harm can still happen even if the user base is below that threshold… so we are taking a closer look at this matter.

“This is quite a hybrid area and requires the ministry, and specifically MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission), to examine it to ensure that from a regulatory perspective, online harm issues can be addressed more comprehensively,” he said during the Ministers' Question Time session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Fahmi was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi (PN-Tumpat) regarding the requirement for independent risk assessments of AI functions, as well as whether restrictions on Grok would be permanent.

Regarding safety audits for social media services or service providers, he said the Online Safety Committee under the Online Safety Act (ONSA) 2025 has set out several guidelines for MCMC in terms of the annual online safety reports that platforms are required to submit.

Commenting further on the case, Fahmi said that in a meeting he chaired yesterday with representatives from X, the app confirmed their commitment and cooperation to prevent the spread of harmful online content through both the X platform and the Grok application.

In this regard, he said X’s representatives have been asked to formally confirm the measures implemented to MCMC, allowing the regulator to assess their effectiveness and take any necessary follow-up or regulatory action.

“The purpose of the meeting was to obtain clarification and commitment from X’s representatives regarding preventive measures, strengthening user safety features, and efforts taken to comply with Malaysian laws in preventing the dissemination of harmful online content,” he said.

Fahmi said that, to date, MCMC has recorded 17 complaints or reports related to the Grok application, including six official complaints to MCMC, two police reports, eight complaints via social media tagging, and one first information report (FIR) filed with the agency.

For long-term safety measures, he said the government is focusing on strengthening AI governance and the responsibilities of online service providers to ensure that generated content does not violate Malaysian laws, including the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and ONSA 2025. 

This approach is supported through stricter content regulation, continuous monitoring and increased public awareness to protect Malaysians, especially children, families and vulnerable groups, from exposure to harmful online content.

“Most importantly, X has shown willingness to come to Malaysia, and they have also committed to deeper cooperation and involvement in several initiatives, including the Safe Internet Campaign,” he said. 

-- BERNAMA