Malaysia Shifts Gambling Crackdown Toward Online Platforms
The information was released in a written answer to Parliament dated July 16. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), for its part, identified content through proactive monitoring and also acted on formal requests from enforcement agencies.
Takedown Requests Draw a 98% Response
The MCMC submitted 467,772 requests for gambling-related content to be removed during the 17-month period. Service providers took down 457,562 content items, representing around 98% of all the requests submitted.
Website blocking went hand-in-hand with the takedown notices. Access to 1,778 gambling sites was blocked by Internet Service Providers on the basis of MCMC instructions.
Each of these measures operates at a different stage. While the content notices address the issue of gambling content hosted by the platforms, the website blocking addresses gambling access.
Police and MCMC Divide Enforcement Roles
Gambling offenses generally remain under the jurisdiction of the Royal Malaysia Police pursuant to the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953. The MCMC works to support such a process through investigative assistance and technical restrictions. The Ministry noted that the regulator is responsible for website blocking under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the Online Safety Act 2025, which is also known as Act 866.
Police remain responsible for investigating gambling offenses and taking enforcement action. The MCMC works with online platforms and internet providers to remove identified content and restrict access to gambling websites.
Scam Figures Show a Wider Takedown System
Parliamentary responses also contained individual information regarding scams on the internet. From January 1, 2022, until June 30, 2026, there were 275,787 scam-related content requests issued by MCMC.
A total of 262,293 items were removed by service providers, representing 95% of the requests submitted. The MCMC also submitted five content-removal requests involving financial scams under Act 866 during the first six months of 2026. All five were successfully acted upon.
The government has complemented removal efforts with a National Scam Response Centre and a Safe Internet campaign. That campaign has reached 10,303 schools and higher education institutions nationwide.
The Next Test Is Recurrence
Response rates indicate compliance with notifications by platforms and internet service providers. They do not show whether the blocked websites continue to be offline or become active again using new web addresses.
That is now the more useful enforcement measure. Repeated removals may cut exposure, but lasting disruption depends on faster detection and links between digital evidence and police cases. Without that follow-through, the headline figures mainly describe an efficient takedown process.