Senai: Sponsored content promoting gambling and fraud, aimed at boosting reach to users, is raising concerns as such material has been widely detected on social media platforms, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching. She emphasized that most of the content reported to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was identified as sponsored posts, with certain parties paying digital platforms to ensure the advertisements reached a larger audience.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Teo noted that although the platforms agreed to remove the content after complaints were made, such actions usually took place only after the material had already been displayed and reached users. She questioned the effectiveness of initial screening measures, asking, 'Why is content like this not filtered more effectively before being published and promoted, indirectly facilitating online fraud and gambling activities?' Teo made these remarks after attending the Next Gen Luxury Coach handover ceremony in Senai.

In the first 15 days of this year alone, MCMC had removed 15,519 pieces of content related to online gambling and 5,241 pieces containing fraudulent elements, some of which were sponsored posts, Teo revealed. As a response, MCMC plans to use provisions under the Online Safety Act to ensure that platform providers classified as licensees fulfill their responsibilities more effectively, particularly in content assessment and approval processes.

The initiative aims to ensure harmful content is removed more swiftly and to prevent it from being published initially. Teo also mentioned that MCMC will persist in collaborating closely with police to tackle online gambling and fraud issues, while urging the public to submit complaints through MCMC's official channels.

'We want to ensure platforms are held accountable and do not allow content that is clearly harmful to exist in their digital spaces,' she stated.