Malaysia grants WeChat, TikTok licences to operate under new law

Malaysia's communications regulator said it granted Tencent's (0700) WeChat and ByteDance's TikTok licences to operate in the country under a new social media law, but that some other platforms had not applied.

The law, aimed at tackling rising cybercrime, requires social media platforms and messaging services with more than 8 million users in Malaysia to obtain a licence or face legal action. It came into effect on January 1.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said messaging platform Telegram was in the final stages of obtaining its licence, while Meta platforms, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, had begun the licensing process.

(Reuters)