KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Putrajaya said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will meet Meta Platforms, Inc which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to address the issue of scam advertisements on its social media platforms.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Meta has failed to act on scams such as advertisements purportedly for house cleaners and car sales that are rampant, especially on Facebook.

"We want to understand why Meta is slow at detecting scams,” he told reporters at the Raya +Fluencer event here.

He also said that social media companies would benefit from establishing their presence in the country, if they have not done so.

For example, Fahmi said not being local can delay their response time in tackling scams on their platforms.

"I believe having their representatives here in Malaysia will make it easier,” he added.

He said he had already asked MCMC chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din to invite Meta for a discussion.

Earlier this morning, the minister was forced to deny his involvement in a Shariah-compliant investment scheme, following a poster that has gone viral on social media touting his promotion.

Just last month, Fahmi said he received a WhatsApp message from an imposter claiming to be his Cabinet colleague, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

Last year, Fahmi said that tackling online scams rank number one on his list of things to do after being appointed minister, followed by data protection, and misinformation and disinformation on social media.

He has previously urged Malaysians who fall victim to scammers to quickly contact the government’s National Scam Response Centre’s 997 hotline, with the hopes of recovering the funds lost to scams.

Fahmi's ministry had in March reach out to Telegram to discuss issues involving the text messaging application, including scammer activities.