Malaysia has no online gambling licensing regime, and enforcement is therefore a content problem rather than a licensing one. The Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 and the Betting Act 1953 remain the principal prohibitions, and gambling is separately prohibited for Muslims under Sharia law, which covers most of the population. A narrow licensed land-based sector exists alongside that: one casino at Resorts World Genting, and licensed number forecast operators running lottery draws. Nothing equivalent exists online. The active front is takedowns. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission requested the removal of 470,593 pieces of criminal content between 1 January and 17 August 2026, with online gambling accounting for 64% of it and platforms complying with 93%. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Facebook carried 78% of the flagged gambling content. The Online Safety Act 2025 is the structural answer, introducing codes intended to make platform removal automatic rather than request-driven.
Common Gaming Houses Act 1953
Betting Act 1953
Online Safety Act 2025
Watch the Online Safety Act codes rather than the licensing question, which is not live. Whether platforms automate removal under the Child Protection Code and Risk Mitigation Code determines whether enforcement stops being a manual exercise that the regulator has said takes about 30 minutes per item.
S&P Global has published a credit FAQ warning that Genting Bhd may not be able to defend its investment-grade rating while pursuing $10.5 billion of expansion in New York and Singapore. Fitch cut the group to the same rung on Monday. It now sits one notch above speculative grade with a negative outlook and, in S&P's words, no more buffer.
The communications minister said there should be an annual award for the platform that commits the most sins against Malaysians, and named Facebook. The number that matters is not 78. It is 30, the minutes his regulator spends on each of 470,593 takedown requests.
Genting Bhd’s ongoing takeover attempt for its subsidiary, Genting Malaysia Bhd, has come under further scrutiny, with an independent adviser labelling the
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has publicly challenged new social media license requirements in Malaysia. The company warns
This week felt like a tale of two industries. In one, we saw colossal, forward-looking investments designed to conquer the next frontier. In the other, we saw
The government of Malaysia has issued a sharp public rebuke to Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, accusing the tech giant of an
The financial outlook for global casino giant Genting Group remains "under pressure," according to a new report from credit analysis firm CreditSights.
The relentless global ascent of online gambling has, in recent years, cast a long shadow over traditional land-based casinos. By 2022, brick-and-mortar gaming
Malaysia has seen a dramatic increase in electricity theft over the past six years, with reported cases soaring by 300% between 2018 and the end of 2024.
Government of Malaysia