KUALA LUMPUR – A Meta Platforms official on Wednesday (Oct 30) criticized Malaysia’s plan to require social media platforms to apply for a regulatory license by January, saying the proposal lacked clear guidelines and gave social enterprises little time to comply, putting digital innovation and growth at risk. in the country.

Malaysia said in July it will require social media platforms and messaging services with more than eight million users get a licenseas part of efforts to curb financial scams, cyberbullying and online sexual crimes.

Companies could face legal action if they do not do so by January 1, 2025.

The plan has faced backlash, with an Asian industry group that includes Meta urging the government in August to halt the measure. However, Malaysia has said it will not delay the proposed regulations, and Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said technology companies must comply with local laws to continue operating in the country.

Meta’s public policy director for Southeast Asia, Rafael Frankel, said the company has not yet decided whether it plans to apply for the license before the January deadline, due to a lack of clarity over the new regulations.

The timeline for applying for a license was “exceptionally accelerated” and the social media companies’ obligations under the plan remained unclear, Frankel said in an interview with Reuters.

“These regulations tend to take a couple of years to go through multiple iterations… to structure them appropriately and balance the need for security and ensure that innovation and digital economic growth are not inadvertently limited,” he said.

Malaysia’s Communications Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the interview.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct. 30) following a meeting with Meta representatives the day before, Communications Minister Fahmi thanked the company for its willingness to cooperate with the government but urged it to take action. more proactive against sexual content involving minors on their platforms.

Frankel said Meta shared the Malaysian government’s goal of having a safe online environment and was working closely with the communications regulator to remove or restrict harmful content from its platforms.

“We don’t need a licensing regime to take online security seriously. We already take it seriously,” he said.

Meta has shared its concerns with the government and hopes to “bridge differences” over the proposed regulations before they are implemented, Frankel added, without providing details.

Malaysian authorities consider online gambling, scams, child pornography and grooming, cyberbullying and content related to race, religion and royalty to be harmful.

Malaysia reported a sharp rise in harmful social media content earlier this year and urged social media companies, including Facebook parent Meta and short video platform TikTok, to step up monitoring on their platforms.

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