![KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 2 -- The government is completing the regulatory framework under the Online Safety Act 2025 [Act 866], including finalising another regulatory instrument relating to private messaging features to clarify the obligations of digital platforms in dealing with harmful content, said Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil. He said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is currently holding a public consultation to develop the Online Safety (Other Characteristics of Private Messaging Features) Regulations. Fahmi said the public consultation, which began on June 19, was scheduled to end on July 20 before the regulations were finalized. "All these subsidiary legislations, codes and guidelines were drafted to detail the duties and obligations of licensed service providers under Act 866, in addition to providing clear guidance on compliance with statutory responsibilities," he said during the Ministerial Question Time session at the Dewan Rakyat today. He was answering a question from Rodziah Ismail (PH-Ampang) on the status of the development of subsidiary instruments under Act 866, including regulations, guidelines and implementation mechanisms. Fahmi said the regulations were among 10 subsidiary instruments that included regulations, codes and guidelines that complemented Act 866, with four of them coming into force on Jan 1, 2026 simultaneously with the act. “It involves the Online Security (Fi) Regulations 2025, the Online Security (Form of Undertaking) Regulations 2025, the Online Security (Online Security Appeal Tribunal) Regulations 2025, and the Online Security (Period) Regulations 2025. "Two more subsidiary regulations were enforced on July 1, 2026, namely the Online Safety (Compounding of Offences) Regulations 2026 and the Online Safety (Online Safety Plan) Regulations 2026," he said. Fahmi said the implementation of Act 866 together with subsidiary regulations, codes and guidelines would ensure that social media platforms shoulder greater responsibility in creating a safer digital ecosystem, including detecting and addressing harmful content more proactively. He said platforms should not continue to rely on MCMC to identify and request that the content be taken down, but instead should implement automatic detection and enforcement. "This harmful content problem should not be handled by MCMC. This harmful content problem should be handled by the platform itself," he said. He said that since Jan 1 until yesterday, MCMC had identified 345,712 pieces of harmful content that were requested to be removed from digital platforms, with each application taking between 30 to 45 minutes as it required the preparation of documents and justification for the reason the content was classified as harmful. "If we take the number 345,712 that I mentioned earlier and multiply it by 30 minutes for each application, it means that from Jan 1 until yesterday, MCMC has used a total of 19.7 years of working time to file content that is believed to be harmful," he said. Fahmi said that of the total content requested to be taken down, approximately 91 percent involved gambling and scam content that was repeatedly produced by criminals and promoted through digital platforms. In this regard, he said MCMC is looking into the use of AI agentic technology to increase the efficiency of managing complaints and reduce the workload of officers, in addition to encouraging social media platforms to also utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect and take down content that violates community guidelines more quickly. -- BERNAMA](https://minutesmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-02-at-11.47.19-AM-1024x576.jpeg)
KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — The government is completing the regulatory framework under the Online Safety Act 2025 [Act 866], including finalising another regulatory instrument relating to private messaging features to clarify the obligations of digital platforms in dealing with harmful content, said Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
He said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is currently holding a public consultation to develop the Online Safety (Other Characteristics of Private Messaging Features) Regulations.
Fahmi said the public consultation, which began on June 19, was scheduled to end on July 20 before the regulations were finalized.
“All these subsidiary legislations, codes and guidelines were drafted to detail the duties and obligations of licensed service providers under Act 866, in addition to providing clear guidance on compliance with statutory responsibilities,” he said during the Ministerial Question Time session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was answering a question from Rodziah Ismail (PH-Ampang) on the status of the development of subsidiary instruments under Act 866, including regulations, guidelines and implementation mechanisms.
Fahmi said the regulations were among 10 subsidiary instruments that included regulations, codes and guidelines that complemented Act 866, with four of them coming into force on Jan 1, 2026 simultaneously with the act.
“It involves the Online Security (Fi) Regulations 2025, the Online Security (Form of Undertaking) Regulations 2025, the Online Security (Online Security Appeal Tribunal) Regulations 2025, and the Online Security (Period) Regulations 2025.
“Two more subsidiary regulations were enforced on July 1, 2026, namely the Online Safety (Compounding of Offences) Regulations 2026 and the Online Safety (Online Safety Plan) Regulations 2026,” he said.
Fahmi said the implementation of Act 866 together with subsidiary regulations, codes and guidelines would ensure that social media platforms shoulder greater responsibility in creating a safer digital ecosystem, including detecting and addressing harmful content more proactively.
He said platforms should not continue to rely on MCMC to identify and request that the content be taken down, but instead should implement automatic detection and enforcement.
“This harmful content problem should not be handled by MCMC. This harmful content problem should be handled by the platform itself,” he said.
He said that since Jan 1 until yesterday, MCMC had identified 345,712 pieces of harmful content that were requested to be removed from digital platforms, with each application taking between 30 to 45 minutes as it required the preparation of documents and justification for the reason the content was classified as harmful.
“If we take the number 345,712 that I mentioned earlier and multiply it by 30 minutes for each application, it means that from Jan 1 until yesterday, MCMC has used a total of 19.7 years of working time to file content that is believed to be harmful,” he said.
Fahmi said that of the total content requested to be taken down, approximately 91 percent involved gambling and scam content that was repeatedly produced by criminals and promoted through digital platforms.
In this regard, he said MCMC is looking into the use of AI agentic technology to increase the efficiency of managing complaints and reduce the workload of officers, in addition to encouraging social media platforms to also utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect and take down content that violates community guidelines more quickly.
— BERNAMA
