Fahmi Fadzil reiterated that the enforcement of the Online Safety Act 2024 will let the government take legal action against social media platforms for fake ads and not following regulations.

The communications minister was responding to a Reuters report that Meta projected at least 10 percent of its annual revenue came from fake content, including ads promoting scams and online gambling.

“I have mentioned previously in the Dewan Rakyat regarding the estimated revenue earned by Meta from Malaysia, which is believed to be RM2.5 billion in 2023 alone.

“Which means that the figures quoted by Reuters estimates that at least RM250 million of that revenue could be from fraudulent advertisements,” he said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

“This is why, under the Online Safety Act, which will be enforced soon, platforms such as Meta will have to ensure that online harms such as fraud, scams, and online gambling can no longer be accessed through Facebook in Malaysia. If they fail to do so, legal action can be taken against them,” he added.

Fahmi also highlighted how MCMC, along with the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC), National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), and several other regulatory bodies, recently held a discussion with Meta in Singapore over similar matters.

Yesterday, Reuters also reported that Meta’s internal estimations revealed its platforms exposed users to 15 billion scam ads daily.

The company also reported a revenue of USD7 billion annually from publishing fraudulent ads.

Fahmi also added that his ministry would further examine these statistics and urge Meta to provide further explanation.

Content takedown

In September, the minister revealed that the government has submitted 168,774 content takedown requests to Meta this year for content published on Facebook.

He noted that at least 120,127 takedown requests were related to online gambling, of which 114,665 (95.4 percent) had been removed. As for online scams, Fahmi said 37,722 requests had been made, of which 36,918 (97.8 percent) had been taken down.

He also highlighted RM248 million in financial losses linked to scams on Meta platforms, and criticised the company’s lack of full cooperation in curbing cybercrime.

The minister also previously urged Meta and other social media platforms to introduce better age and identity verification, such as using MyKad or MyDigital ID, to prevent online harms.

In his speech today, Fahmi highlighted that the total requests made by MCMC to Meta to remove content related to scams and online gambling had taken about 30 to 45 minutes per post, between January to mid-October this year.

“This means MCMC has spent roughly 22 working years just sending requests to Meta to remove such content. We should send Meta a bill for all the work that we’re doing on their behalf,” he added.

Previously, the ministry announced that 10 subsidiary instruments for the Online Safety Act were expected to be completed by June 2026.

The instruments cover procedures, administrative frameworks, and mechanisms for classifying online harm.

The Online Safety Act, which came into effect in July 2025, is expected to be implemented beginning next year, once these instruments are finalised.

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