Fahmi said the government has been in discussion with the Facebook parent company regarding the new licence requirements since earlier this year.
“They are giving excuses. I will not compromise on the safety of Malaysian children and families,” he told reporters after an event here today.
Yesterday, Reuters reported that Meta criticised Malaysia’s plan to require social media platforms to apply for a regulatory licence by January, saying it lacked clear guidelines and gave these companies little time to comply, risking digital innovation and growth in the country.
The government said in June it will require social media platforms and messaging services with more than eight million users in the country to obtain a licence, as part of efforts to curb financial scams, cyberbullying and sexual crimes online.
The companies may face legal action if they fail to do so by Jan 1.
Fahmi also said the government cannot extend its implementation timeline as doing so will provide criminal groups, such as scammers and paedophiles, opportunities to operate on Meta platforms.
“We have received many complaints from the public that there are paedophile groups on Facebook with over thousands of members that have been operating for decades,” he said.
Explanation needed on sale of Fashion Valet shares
On a separate matter, Fahmi said the parties involved should publicly explain the sale of Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s stake in e-commerce platform Fashion Valet Sdn Bhd (FashionValet).
This follows reports that the sale, for RM3.1 million, resulted in a loss of RM43.9 million.
He said the public is concerned because it involves taxpayers’ money.
“We see a lot of content being put out speculating about things. But to be fair to all parties, we should give them some time to respond,” he said.
Fahmi also dismissed rumours that the government plans to impose a sales and service tax on subscriptions to artificial intelligence services on the ChatGPT platform.
He said this was not discussed or debated within the Cabinet or Parliament, which are necessary for implementing any tax measure.