744 online scam reports involving Facebook lodged since January

KULAI: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has received 744 reports on online scams involving Facebook sites from January to May 25.

Deputy communications and digital minister Teo Nie Ching said this was followed by Telegram with 17 cases, WhatsApp (16), Instagram (seven) and email (one).

She said these figures clearly showed the importance of cooperation between the government and social media platform providers so that such criminal cases could be acted upon immediately.

Teo said platform providers had their own guidelines to ensure they can act against illegal activities that violate the law.

“Similarly, if there is racial speech, we can send a report to the platform provider.

“The platform provider will refer to their guidelines to make a decision on whether the content should be deleted or not,” she told reporters after watching the movie “Polis Evo 3” with the Kulai police community here today.

Regarding Telegram ignoring the ministry’s invitation to discuss and find solutions regarding several complaints, Teo said the meeting was intended to establish cooperation in curbing criminal activities.

Teo said the intended meeting was not of a political nature or to interfere with freedom of expression.

“Does a meeting with us mean that they (platform providers) become ‘slaves’ to the government?

“No, because they have community guidelines in place. But for illegal activities such as online scams, action needs to be taken. This requires the cooperation of all parties,” she said.

Teo also urged all parties to take heed of deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s call for MCMC to monitor race and religious narratives by political leaders on social media so that action can be taken under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.