From the UK regulator cracking down on scam calls to Malaysia rolling out new rules against cybercrimes, here’s everything we covered at Digital Rights Monitor this week.
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MALAYSIA: New regulations to ‘combat’ cybercrimes on social media
The Malaysian government is introducing a new set of regulations for social media companies in an attempt to combat online crimes, according to an official notification.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission issued a statement on the new rules on Saturday, July 27, 2024. The regulations mandate licencing for social media platforms with more than eight million users in the country.
“This new regulatory framework only applies to services that meet the licensing eligibility criteria and does not involve users,” the notification reads. “This measure will create a safer online ecosystem and a better user experience, especially for children and families.”
The licencing regulatory framework is aimed at combatting online scams and fraud, cyberbullying, and sexual crimes against children, according to the notification.
More here
UK: Regulator cracking down on ‘millions’ of scam calls
Ofcom, the UK’s telecommunications regulator, has announced that it is cracking down on “millions” of deceiving phone calls imitating UK landline numbers, according to an official notification.
The regulator has come up with stricter regulations for telecom companies for the handling of calls from abroad. The firms will be required to block foreign calls imitating UK numbers, a scam commonly known as “spoofing”. The new rules will come into effect from January 2025.
The “strengthened” regulations will help people against scams through calls that appear to be made from within the UK. In addition, Ofcom has called on telecom companies to contribute to the efforts with “innovative solutions” to help counter online scams more effectively.
“A common tactic used by criminals to defraud victims is to imitate – or ‘spoof’- phone numbers from a trusted person, organisation, or Government department, so their calls are more likely to be answered,” says Ofcom.
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US: Meta to settle facial recognition lawsuit for $1.4b
Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is settling a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas against the company’s illegal collection of biometric data, according to court documents.
The lawsuit accuses Meta of using facial recognition to harvest data of millions of users across Texas without obtaining informed consent. Facial recognition had previously been discontinued on Facebook However, Meta deployed it without the knowledge of consumers and collected their biometric data, the lawsuit states.
The $1.4 billion settlement has been approved by the court. The complaint against Meta is the first major case brought against a leading tech conglomerate under the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act, or CUBI Act, which came into effect in 2009.
The CUBI Act “prohibits a person from capturing an individual’s biometric identifiers for a commercial purpose unless that person informs the individual and obtains the individual’s consent”.
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Meta under fire for running ads promoting illegal drugs
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is under fire for running ads promoting the distribution of various illegal drugs, according to an investigative report by The Wall Street Journal.
The ads, promoting the sale of banned recreational drugs such as cocaine and opioids, continue to be published across Meta’s leading social networking platforms, the report reveals.
The WSJ has found that Meta continues to profit off ads marketing illegal substances. The company has run “hundreds” of ads veering users towards marketplaces selling banned substances.
The revelation comes as Meta is already being investigated for the same by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the leading consumer protection watchdog in the United States (US).
The WSJ reported in March that US prosecutors were probing the tech conglomerate for its role in facilitating the sale of illegal drugs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been part of the FTC’s ongoing investigation.
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