Ministry examining need to license social media platforms, says Fahmi

The communications and digital ministry is examining the need to license large platform providers such as Google, Meta, and TikTok that generate revenue through content from local media organisations.
 
Its minister Fahmi Fadzil, said discussions with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the platforms concerned had been carried out to fine-tune the matter, which aims to provide returns to the country's media industry.

"After MCMC and the communications and digital ministry's meeting with some big social media platforms, namely Google, Meta, and TikTok, I have discussed some matters with MCMC to examine the need for us to register and license some of these platforms.

"We see a lot of content produced by Malaysian media organisations being used on social media on these big platforms, but the returns for our (Malaysian) media are very low," he said when met by reporters at the Kasih@HAWANA 2023 programme in Kuching today.

According to Fahmi, such licensing and registration measures must be considered to ensure the sustainability of the national media industry ecosystem.

"We don't just want to help reporters and staff that have fallen on hard times, but also the media industry itself," he said.

In August, Fahmi, in a post on Twitter, said that the initiative to engage with social media platforms was expected to help the media industry generate additional income.

He said, as the minister concerned, he had to play a role in protecting the media fraternity in the country.