KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has labelled Meta Inc as having "no remorse” or "responsibility” as Malaysians got scammed by RM432 million through its social media platform Facebook.

In an interview with South China Morning Post (SCMP), he also downplayed Meta’s concerns over the upcoming social media licensing as "facetious”, comparing it to how carmakers can still innovate and develop new technologies despite strict regulations.

"I told the Facebook team [of the losses] when I met them in Singapore. I can tell you they had no reaction. It’s like the Malay saying, tiada hati perut,” Fahmi said, using the Malay idiom meaning "being heartless”.

"Like, oh wow, RM432 million from Malaysians stolen through your platform and you have no remorse, no sense of responsibility? And you expect me to do nothing about it?”

He cited how police estimated that RM432 million had been lost to Facebook scams in 2023, pointing out how the platform has been the worst enabler of criminal activity — with 170,000 takedown requests sent to it, making up 91 per cent of online gambling and scam advertisements across all platforms.

Fahmi also said that Meta has been the least responsive when it comes to dealing with scams or online gambling.Meta also owns Instagram and WhatsApp."The frustration the administration has had with Meta for the longest time is ... we spend so much resources communicating with Meta, repeatedly every day, to take down content related to illegal online gambling or scams,” he was quoted saying.

Fahmi gave the example of how Meta took six months to handle the Health Ministry’s complaint over Facebook accounts impersonating a doctor to sell fake eye drops.

Meta also owns Instagram and WhatsApp. SCMP said the company did not respond to its request for comments.

In August this year, the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, urging Putrajaya to postpone the social media licensing — claiming it is "unworkable”.

The AIC is made up of tech giants such as Google, Meta, X, Apple and Amazon.

Despite that, Fahmi has previously insisted that the government will stick with the January 1, 2025. However, Putrajaya will not block access to internet messaging services and social media platforms that do not register.