THE idea of rules and regulations may not necessarily sit well with all of us. After all, they involve a degree of restriction of freedom.
At the same time, how can a society function without regulations? They are needed to ensure health and safety standards, quality control in many technical fields and even safeguard liberty.
Without regulations, the internet is like the Wild West – an environment where outlaws can prosper. That is why it is important to adopt social media licensing laws and hold tech giants accountable when they provide an avenue for the unscrupulous to rip away a pensioner’s lifetime savings.
I urge Malaysia to take a leaf from Australia’s playbook. On Jan 3, Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones drafted a law that would impose massive fines and compensation of up to A$50 million (RM130.30 million) on tech giants, banks and telcos for failing to protect scam victims.
This is part of Australia’s Scam Prevention Framework designed to hold them accountable.
One trigger for this was that Australians were losing more than A$2.7 billion a year to scammers, with losses originating from social media platforms increasing substantially.
Under this proposed law, the companies will have to show that they introduced additional checks and balances to prevent funds from being transferred as part of the scam.
This is also relevant in the local context, with the implementation of the Social Media Licensing Framework, which saw four major social media and messaging platforms come on board with the licensing, effective from Jan 1.
In supporting its implementation, Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung highlighted that he had assisted many scam victims and that it was a widespread problem that needed to be addressed.
“Total financial losses under #ScamVictimSupport has exceeded RM10 million while some still suffer post-scam traumas after years. Simply put, we need the platforms to take more accountability and responsibility to improve safety and security in the digital world,” he said earlier this month.
It is encouraging to see the participation of WeChat, Telegram, TikTok and Meta in this initiative although there remain two notable companies that have yet to comply with the licensing applications and requirements.
Kota Malacca MP Khoo Poay Tiong also backed the move by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), saying that the framework addressed pressing challenges, including online safety, content regulation and the ethical use of social media platforms while safeguarding users’ freedom of expression.
He called on Google, as the parent company of YouTube, to engage constructively with the MCMC to resolve any outstanding concerns.
Meanwhile, Segamat MP Yuneswaran Ramaraj, a third backbencher, urged social media platform X to apply for the mandatory licensing based on goodwill, after the platform stated it had not met the minimum threshold of eight million users.
In 2023 alone, over 34,000 online scam cases in Malaysia resulted in financial losses exceeding RM1.2 billion.
Senior citizens and pensioners are particularly vulnerable as they are a group that often have large savings and are not familiar with technology.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) also pointed out recently that as cryptocurrencies gain prominence as an alternative to traditional currencies, they have also become a new tool for criminals to facilitate illegal activities.
On Jan 4, MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said corruption is evolving from traditional methods to more sophisticated operations, including the use of digital technologies and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, to conceal financial trails.
As such, several MACC officers have undergone specialised training in cryptocurrency investigations, in addition to the commission establishing close collaboration with the Digital Forensic Working Group and Interpol to bolster its efforts.
The truth is that if the relevant authorities do not move to clamp down on the many unchecked digital avenues that facilitate cybercrimes, they will continue to thrive in our country.
Like it or not, rules and regulations are needed to safeguard Malaysians from criminals who use the online world as a vehicle for their crimes.
Martin Vengadesan is a veteran editor and consultant with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
