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.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
