Malaysia formed a special cross-agency working committee and technical group on June 18, 2026, to address the rising problem of online fraud and scams. The committee includes ministries, enforcement agencies, the banking and telecommunications sectors, and major social media platforms, marking the first time these stakeholders have coordinated so closely on this issue [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
The committee aims to strengthen enforcement, legal, and investigative efforts to protect digital platform users and enable faster, stricter action against scammers. Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the effort is a “proactive measure by the government to identify issues and manage them, be it in terms of enforcement, legislation and also investigation, so that Malaysians can be safer when using digital platforms” [1].
The government has been cautious about disclosing details of the anti-scam strategies to avoid alerting scammers. Fahmi added, “We cannot speak too openly because some of those watching may be scammers themselves. There are priorities we must protect to avoid revealing strategic details. Nevertheless, we anticipate very positive developments soon” [3].
This committee’s formation comes as the government finalises the regulatory framework under the Online Safety Act 2025 (Act 866). New regulations covering private messaging features are under public consultation from June 19 to July 20, 2026 [6, 7, 8]. Four subsidiary regulations—covering fees, undertakings, the Online Safety Appeals Tribunal, and time periods—came into force on January 1, 2026. Two further subsidiary regulations on Compounding of Offences and Online Safety Plan took effect on July 1, 2026 [6, 7, 8].
Between January and July 1, 2026, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) identified 345,712 items of harmful content for removal requests, 91% of which related to gambling and scams [6, 7, 8]. Communications Minister Fahmi said removing harmful content is primarily the responsibility of digital platforms, not MCMC [6].
Efforts to enforce social media age limits are also underway. The MCMC and Royal Malaysia Police are targeting VPN loopholes and misuse of third-party identification to better enforce these limits, amid a rise in reported cases under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act—from 69 in 2024 to 146 in 2025 [9]. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah stressed legal action will be taken if online platforms are used to facilitate crimes including scams and exploitation [9].
The next key milestone is the conclusion of the Online Safety (Other Characteristics of Private Messaging Features) Regulations public consultation on July 20, 2026 [6, 7, 8].
