KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and several government agencies will meet social media platform providers in Singapore next week to discuss implementing electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) verification, according to Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
According to Fahmi, the MCMC has scheduled meetings with officials from major tech companies including Meta, Google, X and TikTok.
“We want to explore the best mechanisms for the eKYC verification process that utilise official government-issued documents such as the MyKad, passport and MyDigital ID, to ensure secure implementation.
“This is also in line with the Personal Data Protection Act to prevent any data leaks or misuse of information,” Fahmi told the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday during an oral question-and-answer session.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Syahredzan Johan (Pakatan Harapan-Bangi), who had asked about the mechanism to be used if the government intends to bar children below 16 years old from accessing social media.
Fahmi said it is necessary to enforce the eKYC process to address the rising number of online scam cases on social media platforms and to protect children from cyber predators.
“Based on our discussions with the Royal Malaysian Police, the main hurdle in addressing these issues is the misuse of fake accounts impersonating public figures, celebrities and doctors to promote fraudulent investment products. This is why we need to implement eKYC,” he said.
Fahmi added that the government will continue efforts to license social media platforms, particularly after the Online Safety Act comes into effect.
Meanwhile, Fahmi said the government had decided to appeal to the Federal Court against the ruling that the terms “offensive” and “annoy” in Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act are unconstitutional, based on legal and constitutional advice from the Attorney General’s Chambers.
In August, the Court of Appeal ruled that the terms “offensive” and “annoy” in Section 233 are unconstitutional as they violate freedom of speech. The Section, which makes it a crime to post messages considered offensive or annoying, has long been criticised for promoting censorship.
Fahmi said the appellate court’s ruling applies only to the provisions of Section 233 before amendments were made to the Communications and Multimedia Act.
“As the matter is now pending an appeal to the Federal Court, all parties should wait for the court’s decision before taking any position on the interpretation of the terms ‘offensive’ and ‘annoy’ under the pre-amendment provisions,” he added.
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