Facebook rattles Malaysian government over gambling ads
Malaysian government officials met with senior Meta / Facebook people last week to address concerns over the proliferation of gambling ads appearing on the platform in Malaysia.
Nearly 170,000 requests to remove content
Malaysia’s Communications Minister, Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the meeting addressed their concerns about illegal activity on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. The New Straits Times reported that up to 19 September the Malaysian government had submitted 168,774 requests to the social media giant to remove offending content on Facebook. As well as online gambling, content subject to government scrutiny included scams and cons, ‘misinformation’ and content regarding race, religion and royalty.
Still up
Just over 120,000 of the requests related to online gambling, with Meta removing only 115,000 of them.
Referring to scams, Minister Fahmi said:
“The remaining content continues to circulate on Facebook, raising serious concern. These figures indicate that Meta still fails to fully cooperate in combating cybercrime. This has impacted the authorities’ efforts to protect the public from the growing threat of online criminal activities.”
Respect?
In her memoir, Careless People, former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams cited examples of the company ignoring or disrespecting the wishes of governments and senior people in developing countries as the company expanded its global reach.
Is the situation in Malaysia just another example of a US corporate behemoth running roughshod? In allowing gambling advertising, is Facebook overlooking the fact that around two thirds of Malaysians follow a religion, Islam, that prohibits gambling?
Credit card use
Malaysian regulators’ position regarding credit card use to pay for advertising on Meta’s platforms is clear, yet seemingly Facebook chooses to overlook this. Minister Fahmi:
“The majority of content taken down on Facebook consists of online gambling ads and gambling-related posts. If a gambling ad is paid for using a credit card and Facebook knows this content is illegal in Malaysia, they should block the account. But Facebook has refused to do so.”
Sanctions?
So far the Malaysian government has stopped short of sanctioning any of Meta’s platforms. Fahmi:
“We do not intend to ban or shut down Facebook. Many people benefit from these platforms socially and economically. But we cannot allow criminals to misuse them for profit or to commit online crimes.”
But how long will that remain the case? At what point might their patience run out?
Meta not responsible?
In response Meta stated that they are “not responsible for how authorised ad accounts comply with local gambling laws and regulations”. This seems to contradict an earlier position in which Meta said they would tighten their approach to online gambling ads on its platforms and advertisers who are “authorised for a single jurisdiction and gambling type” are permitted to target “any jurisdiction where they are licensed or lawfully permitted, with the exception of unsupported markets”.
Resolution?
Both parties – Meta and the Malaysian government – seem at odds with each other, but both also need a bit of a reality check. Meta / Facebook shouldn't be trampling all over or simply ignoring the laws of sovereign nations. Malaysia, for its part, needs to realise that online gambling is already taking hold and is alive and well and popular within its borders. They need to think about how to work with gaming and gambling companies in the future.