KUALA LUMPUR, August 3 2026 — Dewan Negara today passed the Communications and Multimedia Commission (Amendment) Bill 2026 to enhance the role, function, governance and operations and strengthen the regulatory function of the country’s communications industry.
The Bill was passed by a majority vote after being debated by 11 Senators.
Deputy Minister of Communications Teo Nie Ching, when winding up the debate on the Bill, said MCMC had recorded a decrease of more than 222,000 online gambling content in the first seven months of this year, thus showing an increase in increasingly aggressive digital enforcement actions.
She said the figure was a continuous surge in content taken down by social media platform operators with only two in 2022, increasing to 18,814 content in 2023, 189,484 (2024) and 289,486 (2025).
“As of July 31 (this year), the reductions made for online gambling content are 222,257.
“This reduction action was made at the request of MCMC and also by service providers. At the same time, for the period 2022 to July 31 this year, a total of 6,982 gambling websites have also been blocked,” she said.
She said gambling activities generally fall under the jurisdiction of the Royal Malaysia Police while MCMC’s role is to provide technical assistance, digital forensic analysis and block access based on official requests from enforcement agencies.
Regarding the issue of empowering MCMC’s governance and independence, Teo said the amendment to the Bill prohibits the involvement of politicians as the chairman of the commission.
“The chairman cannot be a member of the legislative body. No members of Parliament, No state assemblymen. The amendment we want to bring now is to ensure that we limit the power of a Minister to ensure that the person he appoints is indeed qualified,” she said.
Earlier, during the debate session, Senator Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman described the amendment to the bill as important given that the communications and multimedia sector is no longer just an economic sector, but has become the country’s strategic infrastructure.
“The success of this amendment does not only depend on the powers provided by law, but on the ability of MCMC to carry out these functions professionally, transparently, and effectively to protect the interests of the people,” he said.
Senator Muhammad Hasbie Muda, on the other hand, believes that the aspects of expertise and merit need to be given serious attention in the process of appointing members of the Commission.
“Reform is not just giving MCMC many functions and powers, but must also ensure that each of these powers is implemented transparently, effectively, and can be held accountable to the people,” he said.
The bill, which was passed by the Dewan Rakyat on July 15, contains 17 clauses, among others, amends Section 16 Act 589 to clarify the function of MCMC in developing and regulating digital infrastructure and platform standards.
— BERNAMA
