Malaysia issues a statutory demand to TikTok over content moderation failures

Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission issued TikTok a statutory demand under Section 39 of the Online Safety Act 2025. The demand is the first visible Section 39 enforcement action since the Act took effect on 1 January 2026. The deemed-licensing regime treats large social-media platforms with at least eight million Malaysian users as licensees under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. Section 39 allows MCMC to impose a financial penalty of up to RM10 million on a non-compliant provider, recoverable as a civil debt. Regulators cited persistent failures to moderate offensive content, including gaps in Tamil-language live-streaming and short-form video moderation. MCMC reported requesting removal of 86,732 videos between January and August 2025, with an 86% removal rate and 10,730 videos not taken down.

"The MCMC's first formal Section 39 enforcement under the Online Safety Act 2025 lands on TikTok, with a maximum financial penalty of RM10 million in play if the platform fails to deliver an enforceable moderation plan. Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Commission has issued a formal statutory demand to TikTok over what regulators describe as a persistent failure to moderate offensive content on the platform, Reuters reported on Thursday."

"The demand is the first visible Section 39 enforcement action under the country's Online Safety Act 2025, which has been in force since 1 January 2026. The regulatory framework the demand sits inside is the deemed-licensing regime Bloomberg first detailed in December 2025, under which large social-media platforms with at least eight million Malaysian users (TikTok, Meta, Telegram, WeChat) are automatically treated as licensees under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998."

"MCMC's January 2026 enforcement notice formally activated the statutory-duty framework. Section 39 of the ONSA permits the MCMC to impose a financial penalty of up to RM10 million on a non-compliant provider, recoverable as a civil debt. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has been escalating publicly toward this enforcement point for nearly nine months."

"Between January and August 2025, MCMC requested removal of 86,732 TikTok videos and reports an 86% removal rate, with 10,730 videos not taken down. The new statutory demand, on the available framing, requires TikTok to file a formal moderation plan with measurable headcount commitments and to evidence compliance over a defined window."

Read at TNW | Asia