KUALA LUMPUR (July 13): Proposed amendments to Malaysia’s communication law will give the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) more powers, including greater control over procurement and public disclosures.
The bill to amend the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 was tabled by Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil for first reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.
Under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (Amendment) Bill 2026, the regulator will be empowered to audit, or cause to be audited, the activities of any licensee or any other person providing services related to communications systems determined by the commission.
Other expanded functions include to review or audit any information a licensee or any other person providing services related to communications systems is required to furnish to the commission, and to develop and regulate security standards and standards on infrastructure and platforms that promote “interoperability, trust and spur growth of the communications and multimedia industry and broader Malaysian economy”.
It also proposes enabling the commission to publish information on certain matters, including any civil or criminal proceedings undertaken by the commission and compounds issued, covering approval and licences, compounds, issuance of directions, guidelines, determinations, and decisions.
It also proposes increasing the MCMC’s contract limit without ministerial approval from RM5 million to RM50 million.
Provisions under the bill also seek to provide clarity on the commission’s membership composition and a restriction on the chairman position that they cannot be a member of Parliament or state assembly member.
Fahmi said the bill will be tabled for second reading during the ongoing parliamentary meeting that runs until Thursday (July 16).
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