Malaysia Mulls Rules for Fair Compensation Towards News Outlets

Malaysia said on Tuesday, Sept. 5, that they’re considering “adopting regulatory frameworks similar to those implemented in Australia and Canada” and are in discussion with major online platforms like Meta and Google to establish one of their own.

According to a statement by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the proposed regulations will follow the world’s first Mandatory News Media Bargaining Code by Australia, which made Google and Meta make “voluntary compensation agreements” with news content creators to stress fair compensation.

The MCMC is also mulling policies similar to Canada’s Bill C-11, which seeks to regulate and require streaming platforms to support Canadian content.

Using both countries as an example, the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD) and MCMC hope to address digital market challenges in the country, such as the income imbalance for traditional Advertising Expenditure (ADEX) between digital platforms and local media.

In addition to fair compensation, the statement also discussed the challenges in the dissemination of online harm, including online gambling, scams and phishing, impersonation, fake news, and content related to child sexual abuse and Race, Royalty, and Religious (3R) discontent, and the fair use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.

“As Malaysia charts its course in the digital age, KKD and MCMC are committed to fostering an environment where digital platforms operate fairly, responsibly, and in the best interest of the public,” the MCMC said.