MCMC to Limit Malaysians to Two Prepaid SIM Cards per Telco; Two in Total for Foreigners
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching says that the government may impose a prepaid SIM card limit per individual soon. If it comes into effect, each Malaysian will be limited to just two prepaid SIM card registrations per telco, while foreigners will be limited to just two prepaid SIM cards in total.
Based on the current 2017 Prepaid User Registration Guidelines, individuals are allowed to register up to five prepaid SIM cards per telco.
According to Teo, adding restrictions on the number of prepaid SIM cards an individual can sign up for will help tackle online fraud and misuse.
Speaking to the Dewan Rakyat, Teo said: “The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has launched a public inquiry to review the current guidelines, which will run until the end of November. We hope the new framework can be implemented by the first quarter of next year.”
The move aims to curb burgeoning cases of online fraud in the country, including those employing fake artificial intelligence (AI) content and anonymous social media accounts. Citing a recent case involving manipulated images of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Teo said that investigations were inconclusive as the MCMC could not trace the scam back to the account holder. The Attorney General’s Chambers eventually closed the case with no further action.
Additionally, the MCMC is also looking into implementing user age and identity verification methods to reduce children’s exposure to harmful content, as well as to curb online fraud involving business entities.
Source: [1] The Edge
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