Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia is urging the Association of Southeast Asian Naions (ASEAN) countries to unite in a concerted effort to strengthen their negotiating power with global social media giants, aiming to effectively combat the growing problem of online crime in the region.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said the 10-member ASEAN bloc should collaborate to adopt specific types of online social media regulations to combat online crime.
The official went on to say that Malaysia wants ASEAN to discuss together to make a common decision and hopes that it will be one of the main contents on the agenda at the upcoming ASEAN Summit, scheduled to take place in October in Laos.
Teo held that last year alone, visa online scams in Malaysia caused losses of 1.2 billion MYR (about 288 million USD), with about 6,000 posts or content with scam element being taken down.
A total of 24,000 posts or contents with scam element were taken down in the first six months of this year while losses amounted to 600 million RM, she noted.
She also said that in the fight against cybercrime, platform providers should be held responsible in the same way as traditional media./.
