As we kick off the new year, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced both Tencent (WeChat) and ByteDance (TikTok) have been granted licenses to operate in Malaysia. Meanwhile, Meta has also begun the process of obtaining the license for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
According to MCMC, Tencent has been granted an Application Service Provider Class License. This marks the big China tech company as the first service provider to be licensed under the licensing requirements for Internet messaging and social media service providers. On the other hand, Telegram is in the final stages of the licensing process and is expected to receive it in the near future.
However, Google (YouTube) and X (formerly Twitter) have not submitted their respective applications. MCMC was told by X that the number of Malaysian users did not meet the requirements of 8 million users. Additionally, Google told MCMC there are a number of issues raised related to video-sharing features on YouTube and its classification under the Licensing Framework.
With this, MCMC will examine the validity of the number of users as stated by X and will continue the engagement session to assess X's position. The organisation will also ensure that YouTube and all related platform providers that meet the licensing criteria are subject to the obligations and responsibilities to comply with the Licensing Framework, which is now in force.
If the platform providers are found to be in violation of licensing requirements, they may be subject to investigation and action. The government said the licensing was necessary to strengthen online security, increase protection for users, especially children and vulnerable groups, and improve regulation of service providers operating in Malaysia.
COMMENTS