By Danial Dzulkifly
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — The government is mulling limiting SIM card registration to curb online scams and strengthen digital identity verification as part of broader efforts to counter deepfakes and AI-driven misinformation, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.
She said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is conducting a public inquiry to revise the current guideline for SIM card registration, which allows one person to register up to five prepaid SIM cards per telco, a loophole often exploited for online fraud.
“We are proposing to limit Malaysians to two prepaid SIM cards per provider, and foreign nationals to two in total, regardless of network.
“Through this improvement, we hope to limit those who misuse SIM cards to register social media accounts for scams or intimidation,” she told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Teo expressed hope that the new guideline could come into effect in the first quarter of 2026, following the conclusion of public consultation at the end of November.
She said the move follows a rise in cases involving AI-generated blackmail emails and impersonation attempts targeting elected representatives, including Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil himself.
“Many MPs have received threatening emails generated through AI, including the minister. One of our biggest challenges is tracing the culprits behind these accounts, especially when foreign identities are used to register them.”
Teo cited a recent case where an individual used AI-generated videos involving the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on TikTok, with investigations later discovering the account was registered under a foreign identity, making prosecution difficult.
To address this, she said the MCMC will enhance coordination with CyberSecurity Malaysia to strengthen digital forensics capabilities, including the use of metadata analysis and digital watermarking to trace AI-generated content.
Earlier, Teo said MCMC recorded a sharp rise in malicious and false content online, with 3,074 takedown requests issued between January 1, 2022 and October 15 this year.
Of these, 2,354 items were successfully removed, representing 77 per cent, while 46,966 false posts were removed out of 55,218 flagged cases, equivalent to 85 per cent.
She said the new Online Safety Act 2025 and amendments to Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 make the use of false or fraudulent content, including deepfakes, a punishable offence with fines of up to RM500,000 or imprisonment of up to two years.
