A HUMAN rights lawyer expressed concern over a recent announcement that social media services and internet services with at least eight million registered users in Malaysia must apply for a licence from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

Citing several past legislations, Lawyers For Liberty co-founder and adviser Eric Paulsen warned that the move would be open to abuse by the authorities.

“Look at how the Sedition Act, Communications and Multimedia Act, Peaceful Assembly Act etc have been misused in recent years,” he said in a brief post on X (formerly Twitter).

“There is absolutely no reason to think that these new proposed social media licensing/legislation will also not be misused.”

Paulsen’s comment on the matter came in light of the announcement by MCMC on July 27 that the license will be introduced on Aug 1 with enforcement effective from Jan 1, 2025, with the new policy aimed at creating a safer internet environment for children and families.

The new regulations will apply to social media platforms and not users, and are likely to affect large services such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, TikTok, WeChat, Snapchat, Line, Telegram, and YouTube.

In a statement, MCMC said the new regulatory framework is in line with the Cabinet’s decision that social media services and internet messaging services must comply with Malaysian laws to combat the rise in cybercrime offences including scams and online fraud, cyberbullying, and sexual crimes against children.

Following the announcement, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said the move is to hold all social media platform providers accountable, tighten standard operating procedures and curb cybercrime.

She that this measure is essential to curb the rising cases of cybercrimes, particularly sexual crimes against children and online fraud in Malaysia, which have become increasingly alarming, Bernama reported.

She noted that there were 360 cases of sexual crimes involving children on social media recorded in 2022, which increased to 525 cases in 2023 while 288 cases were reported from January to June this year.

“In terms of online fraud, the losses amounted to RM453 mil in 2022, rising to RM1.2 bil last year, and from January to June this year, the police recorded losses of RM637 mil,” she was reported as saying to reporters after visiting the National Information Dissemination Centre (NADI) in Pengkalan Kota yesterday (July 28).

“We do not want to see many Malaysians falling victim to online scams. It is a very serious challenge.”

Teo noted that the proposal received approval from the Cabinet earlier this year but the Communications Ministry took several months to conduct engagement sessions with all social media platform providers before making the announcement.

She explained that this is not a regulation unique to Malaysia, as similar policies are practised in other countries, including Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK).

Refuting claims that MCMC’s step would restrict freedom of speech, she clarified that 50% of MCMC’s requests to remove content on social media were related to gambling and online fraud, not just fake news. - July 29, 2024 

https://focusmalaysia.my/social-media-licencing-might-be-misused-by-authorities-warns-human-rights-lawyer-1/