Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said sponsored posts promoting gambling and fraud are being widely detected on social media platforms in Malaysia, and urged the platforms to block them. She spoke to reporters on Feb 7 in Kulai, Johor, after attending a coach handover ceremony in Senai1.
Teo said most of the content reported to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was identified as sponsored posts, with certain parties paying digital platforms so the advertisements reached a larger audience. She said platforms agree to remove such content after complaints, but that this usually happens only after the material has already been displayed and reached users1.
She said MCMC removed 15,519 pieces of content related to online gambling and 5,241 pieces containing fraudulent elements in the first 15 days of this year, some of which were sponsored posts1.
"The main issue right now is the question of initial screening. Why is content like this not filtered more effectively before being published and promoted, indirectly facilitating online fraud and gambling activities?"
Teo said MCMC would use provisions under the Online Safety Act to ensure platform providers classified as licensees fulfill their responsibilities more effectively, particularly in content assessment and approval processes. She said the aim is to ensure harmful content is removed more quickly and to prevent it from being published in the first place1.
She added that MCMC will continue to work closely with police on online gambling and fraud issues, and encouraged the public to submit complaints through MCMC's official channels1.
"We want to ensure platforms are held accountable and do not allow content that is clearly harmful to exist in their digital spaces."
What it means for players
The content Teo described is advertising that platforms are paid to push to a wider audience, rather than posts that appear only to people already following a page. That matters for anyone in Malaysia who sees gambling or investment offers in a feed: the fact that a post is sponsored does not mean a platform has checked it, and Teo said removal typically follows complaints rather than screening before publication1.
The figures cover the first 15 days of 2026 and count pieces of content removed, not prosecutions or confirmed losses to users. The report does not say which platforms the content appeared on, how many complaints were received, or how many of the removed items were gambling as opposed to fraud1.
Malaysia's rules on what gambling is legal, and the risks around unlicensed sites and scam operators, are set out in our guides to gambling in Malaysia and online gambling scams in Malaysia. Reporting routes for fake sites, rigged games and scam operations across the region are covered in gambling scams and safety in Asia.
What happens next
Teo said MCMC would apply Online Safety Act provisions to platform providers classified as licensees, focused on content assessment and approval processes, and would keep working with police1. No dates, deadlines or specific enforcement actions were given, and it has not been reported which platforms hold licensee status or what penalties they would face.
