Tech Giants In Asia Call For Pause On Malaysia Social Media Licences

Even if you’re not an avid social media user, you’re probably aware of the country making it mandatory for social media platforms with eight million users or more to get a licence. It’s a move that has gotten the attention of the UK and Singapore, for better or worse. Despite the sovereign interest though, tech companies within the region have unsurprisingly expressed concern regarding the move. This culminates in an open letter addressed to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim by the Asia Internet Coalition.

The coalition, which lists Google, Apple, Meta and X, among many others notes in the letter than the proposed licensing “might stifle innovation and competition”. Beyond that, the letter also says that “there has been no formal public consultation on the matter”, leaving platforms with “a great deal of uncertainty among the industry regarding the scope of the obligations”. With that in mind, “no platform can be expected to register under these conditions”.

Interestingly, one member of the AIC, Grab, has announced that it is distancing itself from the open letter. In a statement sent to media outlets, the company says that it “was not informed nor consulted on the recent open letter” to the Malaysian PM. Instead, the company says that the social media-related regulation “does not impact our operations and therefore we had no part in it”.

Grab closes its media statement by saying that “we remain committed to collaborating with the government, reflecting our mission to contribubte to the nation’s development”, and that it will not be commenting further on the matter. Which makes sense as the brand doesn’t have much to do with the social media space. Though, as with most things involving legalese, it probably would not be surprising to see feedback get lumped into social media comments.

(Source: AIC [PDF])