KULAI: The number of scam-related social media content taken down last year skyrocketed to more than 63,000, compared to about 6,000 the previous year, says the Communications Ministry.
Its Deputy Minister Teo Nie Ching said this marked a ten-fold increase in the number of requests made by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to remove such content.
"In 2023, we removed 6,297 social media posts related to scams. Last year, the number swelled to 63,652.
"This is a significant increase, and the figure is only based on requests made by MCMC.
"There might be more such content out there that we may not yet know about," she said during a press conference after attending the Kampung Angkat Madani program at Felda Bukit Permai here on Saturday (Jan 4).
Teo said the removed content included deepfake videos involving prominent individuals, including Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, and badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei.
"With artificial intelligence (AI) technology today, it is very easy to create deepfake videos.
"We have seen many prominent figures fall victim to this, including the Prime Minister.
"Most recently, a deepfake video of Tan Sri Zeti sharing investment tips and experiences in fluent Mandarin also made rounds on social media," she said, while urging social media providers such as Meta and TikTok to regulate AI-generated content.
"We are not saying that AI-generated content cannot be used.
"However, we hope these platforms can find a way to at least include a note on such contents to indicate that they are AI-generated," she said.
