Malaysia’s Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said that takedown requests issued by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have risen sharply across several forms of harmful online content, according to Malay Mail.
She explained that the upward trend is linked to stronger monitoring efforts, greater public familiarity with complaint channels and the wider use of AI technologies that accelerate the spread of illicit material.
Teo said gambling remained the most prominent category, making up 62% of all takedown requests submitted to service providers. Scam-related content which includes fake accounts and impersonation attempts accounted for 21%. Offensive content represented 7%.
Year-on-year figures point to a steep rise in removal activity. Gambling-related takedown requests increased to 293,057 in 2025 from 196,510 in 2024. Scam-related requests rose to 102,113 last year from 66,507 in the previous year. Requests linked to offensive content increased to 42,027 in 2025 compared with 19,344 in 2024.
Teo also presented cumulative data from 2022 through March 1 of this year. During that period, MCMC recorded 576,269 takedown requests related to gambling. A further 197,120 requests involved scams including impersonation and 69,541 were tied to offensive content.
She noted that matters such as online scams, identity theft and data breaches fall mainly under enforcement bodies such as the police, the National Cybersecurity Agency and the Personal Data Protection Department under the laws that govern them.
MCMC supports these agencies by providing technical assistance which includes digital forensic analysis and relevant information to aid investigations.
Teo added that MCMC continues proactive monitoring and enforcement under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the Online Safety Act 2025 to address parties responsible for distributing harmful content online.
Service providers act on harmful content based on public complaints, platform policies and Malaysian law
