KUALA LUMPUR – Licensed social media service providers have until Dec 28 to submit their Online Safety Plans to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), in compliance with the Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866).
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said the plans must outline the measures and improvements platforms intend to introduce to create a safer digital environment for users, Bernama reported.
She added that platforms were expected to begin implementing age verification requirements in early January 2027, following the conclusion of the current transition period.
“We are still in the transition period, and we expect platforms to implement this obligation in early January next year. All data on the number of accounts they have verified and closed will be submitted to us after the transition period,” she said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Teo was responding to Wong Shu Qi (PH-Kluang), who sought clarification on platforms’ compliance with age verification requirements, including the number of accounts verified and blocked, as well as possible action against providers that failed to meet their obligations.
She said MCMC had issued directives to major social media providers, including Meta, TikTok and Google, to ensure age verification mechanisms were put in place.
The commission had also requested relevant information from the platforms to monitor their progress and assess compliance with the requirements.
Teo warned that licensed providers found to have breached their obligations under the Online Safety Act could face enforcement action, including fines of up to RM1 million and an additional penalty of up to RM100,000 for every day the offence continued after conviction.
On concerns over fake accounts and hate speech, she clarified that the age verification mechanism for social media users aged 16 and above did not require identity verification.
Consequently, the measure would not directly address the problem of fake accounts, which would require further examination and discussions on appropriate solutions. – November 11, 2026