MCMC, Microsoft in discussions over LinkedIn licensing

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Microsoft are reportedly in discussions regarding the licensing of LinkedIn. 

Speaking to reporters at the Future health for all pilot programme on Saturday (18 Jan), communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said that the discussions aim to assess whether LinkedIn meets the criteria required to register for an application service provider (ASP) class license in Malaysia.

He added that the platform has over eight million users in Malaysia, reported The Star.

Don't miss: MY to verify X's claims following social media license snub 

Meanwhile, the minister said that discussions with X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube regarding their license registrations are still ongoing. Meta, however, is in its final phase, with one document currently in the process of being submitted, Fahmi reportedly revealed. 

Earlier in January, X said that it has not reached the required threshold of eight million users, therefore not requiring a license. In response, communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said that the MCMC will require additional time to verify the claim.

Similarly, Google's YouTube did not apply for a license either. Fahmi explained that YouTube was categorised as a social media application due to the presence of YouTube Shorts, which shares similarities with ByteDance's TikTok. YouTube also features sharing and commenting features on its content.

However, Fahmi reportedly said that he has requested MCMC to give YouTube some time to come back with how many users are utilising Shorts and whether it plans to spin off Shorts into a separate platform in the near future. 

So far, only three social media players have received their licenses, with messaging platform Telegram being the most recent.

The messaging platform was granted the license on 2 January, following behind Tencent and ByteDance. Tencent's WeChat was the first to be granted the class license, followed by ByteDance's video-sharing app, TikTok. 

The social media license mandates that all social media and messaging services with at least eight million registered users in Malaysia must apply for a license. The license is aimed to facilitate revenue-sharing with local content producers and to end harmful and illegal content online.

In a media statement by the MCMC released in August 2024, it emphasised that the licensing requirement was decided based on the need to regulate service providers with significant impact on the Malaysian digital ecosystem. 

"This regulatory framework was introduced as a key step towards a safer online environment, including addressing online gambling, scams and pornography," said the MCMC. 

It added that it has "consistently engaged with a broad spectrum of stakeholders" and will be "undertaking a public inquiring exercise to solicit feedback from all relevant parties to ensure that the final framework is fair, effective and reflective of the needs of both the industry and the public", at the time. 

Failure to obtain a class license under the communications and multimedia act 1998 after the effective date would be considered an offence.  

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