Malaysia’s communications regulator has granted licenses to Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s TikTok to operate under a new social media law aimed at tackling rising cybercrime.
The law, which took effect on January 1, mandates that social media platforms and messaging services with more than 8 million users in Malaysia must obtain a license or face legal action.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) confirmed on Wednesday that messaging platform Telegram is in the final stages of securing its license, while Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has begun the licensing process.
The MCMC also noted that X, formerly Twitter, has not submitted a license application, claiming its local user base does not meet the 8 million threshold. The regulator is currently reviewing the validity of X’s claim.
Alphabet’s Google, which owns YouTube, has also not applied for a license, citing concerns about the video-sharing features of YouTube, though the regulator did not specify these concerns. The MCMC reiterated that platforms must comply with the new law.
Malaysia has seen a significant rise in harmful social media content in early 2024, prompting authorities to urge platforms, including Meta and TikTok, to enhance content monitoring. The government classifies harmful content as online gambling, scams, child pornography, cyberbullying, and content related to race, religion, and royalty.
While companies do not disclose the number of users per country, independent data sources estimate that WeChat has 12 million users in Malaysia, YouTube has 24.1 million, TikTok has 28.68 million users aged 18 and above, Facebook has 22.35 million users, and X has 5.71 million users in the country.
