Malaysia tightens grip on major social media platforms – will it make the internet safer?

Malaysia on Thursday moved to bring some of the world’s biggest social media and messaging platforms under its licensing regime, closing a year-long gap in which several tech giants had operated without formal approval. From January 1, platforms with more than eight million users in Malaysia are automatically treated as licensed under local law, even if they had not applied, according to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). The shift coincides with the Online Safety Act...