The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has published a draft of the upcoming Code of Conduct for Internet Messaging Service Providers and Social Media Service Providers. With the draft being accessible to the public, the commission is holding a public consultation whereby it encourages the public, industry players, and other stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft.
Following the introduction of a new regulatory framework for messaging and social media platforms, the upcoming Code of Conduct will outline the types of content that licensed service providers will be responsible for. This means that licence holders will need to address the harmful content under this framework.
With this draft, harmful content includes Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), non-consensual sharing of intimate content, content related to online financial scams, content used to bully, content that incites violence or extremism, hate speech, the sale of illegal drugs, content that is likely to induce a child to cause harm to themselves, and harmful manipulated media such as deepfakes.
Platform operators will be required to restrict, suspend, or terminate account that are found to post harmful content and respond effectively to requests from law enforcement authorities to for the removal of harmful content. Notably, the services providers will need to roll out effective age verification measures and not just rely on self-declaration of age, although it is unknown how exactly this will be implemented.
To encourage accountability, all licensed platforms will need to submit a half-yearly safety report to the MCMC and publish and publish an annual report on its online safety practices. Additionally, the service providers will need to maintain records of harmful content removals and the reasons behind the removal.
Keep in mind that this Code of Conduct is still in its draft form, with the new framework set to be enforced starting 1 January 2025. Those interested in providing feedback can do so between 22 October to 5 November 2024 by email or letter.
(Source: MCMC Press Release)
