Nearly 100,000 fraudulent, impersonating social media posts removed

Malaysian authorities have removed almost 100,000 instances of fraudulent and impersonating social media content, including fake accounts, as of July 15 this year. This marks an increase from the 98,503 pieces of content removed throughout last year.

Teo Nie Ching, Deputy Minister of Communications, stated that 106,268 requests were sent to social media platforms like Meta, TikTok, and YouTube to take down such content. While platforms retain the final say, their compliance rate for fraud, impersonation, and fake accounts typically exceeds 90 percent.

In contrast, content related to gambling saw a decrease, falling from 289,486 instances last year to 222,257 this year. Nie Ching also cautioned the public against inciting public anger by displaying the Malaysian flag upside down. The Information Department is encouraging the public to fly the national flag from August to September as part of the "1 Rumah 1 Jalur Gemilang" campaign. While complaints have been received regarding upside-down flag displays, Nie Ching clarified that investigations under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 would only occur for intentional damage or insult to the flag, and no such action has been requested to date.