KUALA LUMPUR – A blanket ban on Waze could disrupt the daily routines and livelihoods of millions of Malaysians, particularly gig workers and commercial drivers who rely on the application for real-time traffic updates and navigation, DAP publicity secretary Yeo Bee Yin warns.
The Puchong MP said the government should not move towards prohibiting the application without first establishing whether viable alternatives could match its capabilities and meet the needs of road users nationwide.
In a statement today, Yeo expressed concern over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement that the government had not ruled out a complete ban on Waze if suitable alternatives became available.
“A policy decision of this scale must not be made in haste or taken lightly,” she said.
Yeo said more than six million active Malaysian road users relied on the application for their daily commutes, work and logistics, raising questions about the potential impact of a ban on those who depended on it.
She questioned whether the government had identified credible alternatives capable of matching Waze’s performance in providing live traffic information, road hazard alerts and efficient route planning.
“Commuters and commercial drivers routinely cross-reference multiple applications to verify optimal routing, real-time road hazards and live traffic updates,” she said.
Yeo also cast doubt on whether the proposed TuJu navigation application could compete with established global platforms, given the technical expertise and resources required to develop and maintain such services.
“Does the government realistically expect a statutory body like the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) to build, optimise and maintain a crowd-sourced navigation platform capable of matching global tech giants?” she asked.
She said building dynamic routing systems and keeping map data current required substantial investment, continuous machine-learning optimisation and specialised engineering expertise.
Citing South Korea as an example, Yeo pointed to Naver Map and KakaoMap, which were developed and scaled by major domestic technology companies, to illustrate the investment and technical capacity needed to compete with global navigation services.
She also questioned whether the government had approached Waze’s parent company, US-based Alphabet, to discuss possible technical safeguards, including storing Malaysian users’ location and traffic data on local servers.
“If national security and data sovereignty vis-à-vis Israel are the primary concerns, why have Gulf Cooperation Council nations – such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar – not banned Waze?” she asked.
Yeo said the government should examine whether such safeguards could address its concerns before imposing a blanket prohibition.
She warned that banning the application without adequate preparation could disrupt road users, create additional difficulties for gig workers and undermine confidence in Malaysia’s digital ecosystem.
“A reactionary ban risks unnecessary public disruption, economic friction for the gig economy, and reputational damage to Malaysia’s digital landscape,” she said.
Yeo urged the National Security Council to engage industry experts, navigation technology specialists and other relevant stakeholders transparently before making a decision. – October 24, 2026