Malaysia will require identity verification for all sponsored social media advertisers as part of a wider online safety regime targeting scams, illegal gambling promotions and impersonation-based advertising.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said the requirement will apply to advertisers using sponsored posts on licensed social media platforms.
The measure forms part of the Risk Mitigation Code, which takes effect on June 1 under the Online Safety Act 2025.
The rules apply to platform providers with more than eight million users in Malaysia. Major platforms are also expected to comply with a Child Protection Code, which introduces age-verification requirements aimed at preventing users under 16 from opening social media accounts.
Teo said sponsored posts using images of well-known individuals to promote dubious investments, financial scams and online gambling had created enforcement difficulties because authorities could not identify who paid for the advertisements.
Teo said: “We have seen many sponsored posts using the images of well-known individuals to promote content such as dubious investments, financial scams and online gambling.”
Under the new approach, advertisers will need to verify whether they are acting as individuals or registered entities before sponsored content can be published.
The move comes as Malaysia increases pressure on digital platforms over gambling-related content. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said in May that 91% of 271,472 pieces of content ordered removed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission since January 1 were linked to online scams and gambling.
Fahmi also said 81% of detected online gambling content was found on Facebook, making large social media platforms a central focus of enforcement.
Malaysia’s gambling framework still relies partly on laws drafted in the 1950s, including the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 and Betting Act 1953.
Authorities have increasingly used communications and multimedia laws to address online promotion, while consumer advocates and legal experts have called for clearer rules covering digital gambling advertising.
The latest advertiser-verification requirement adds another layer to that enforcement approach by shifting more responsibility to platforms that sell sponsored reach.
The new advertiser-verification requirements follow growing scrutiny of gambling-related promotions on social media in Malaysia.
Earlier this month, consumer groups warned that influencers who promote online gambling platforms could face legal consequences, arguing that existing enforcement efforts increasingly rely on digital communications laws to address gambling content distributed through social media channels.
The Online Safety Act 2025 also introduces platform duties covering child protection, harmful content moderation and age verification
