Kuala lumpur: Social media platforms that fail to comply with user age-verification requirements under the Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866) could face penalties of up to RM10 million, the Dewan Rakyat was told today. Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil highlighted that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) holds the authority to issue notices of non-compliance to application service providers that do not meet the obligations set out under Part III of Act 866.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, licensed service providers who receive such notices must either pay the prescribed penalty or submit representations to MCMC for review. Datuk Fahmi Fadzil stated during Question Time that non-compliance with Part III of Act 866 could result in financial penalties of up to RM10 million, as provided under Section 39 of the Act. This was in response to Syahredzan Johan (PH-Bangi), who inquired about the measures being taken to ensure social media companies adhere to age-verification requirements and the potential actions against non-compliant platforms.

The minister also emphasized that Section 30 of the Act grants MCMC the power to issue written directives to licensed service providers regarding compliance with any provision of the legislation. Failure to comply with these directives constitutes an offence, which may lead to a fine of up to RM1 million and an additional fine of up to RM100,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction.

Fahmi added that the government has been engaging with social media companies since January through a regulatory sandbox initiative to discuss the implementation of age-verification mechanisms. Over 30 engagement sessions have been conducted, either collectively or individually, with the platforms involved. Despite the challenges and differing business objectives faced by each platform, the government is proceeding with age-verification requirements in line with practices already adopted in more than 25 countries worldwide.