Online fraud a big issue for many countries - Teo Nie Ching

SINGAPORE - Online fraud is a big issue not only for Malaysia but for many countries, said Communications and Digital Deputy Minister Teo Nie Ching.

According to Teo, this was from the findings of the G2G Ministerial Roundtable: Scams And AI Governance which she attended on the sidelines of the four-day Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG) event that ended on June 9, 2023.

The two-hour Ministerial Roundtable was attended by representatives from 14 countries and was chaired by Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo.

Teo (Nie Ching) was here in Singapore for a three-day visit from June 5 at the invitation of the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) in conjunction with the organisation of ATxSG which took place at Capella Singapore.

"If we (the government) only want to overcome online fraud, it is not practical because behind the fraud is a very sophisticated trans boundaries syndicate.

"So, we need to share information so that we can take faster action," she told Bernama at the end of her visit to the republic.

Teo also revealed that at the same time, the government is also facing the problem of lack of cooperation among various platforms or Over-The-Top (OTT) providers which are generally tech giants.

"There are OTTs that do not intend to have a dialogue. There are OTTs who are present in the meeting but what they do still does not meet the standard or requirement that we want to impose on them.

"It is very difficult for a government or country to negotiate with them but if we combine neighbouring countries in ASEAN in an effort to engage with the OTT... it is more effective," she said.

According to her, many countries expressed their agreement with the views she voiced.

"So I hope that at least at the ASEAN level, we can use this way (joining together/combination) to ensure that all these social media platform providers provide a safe platform for users," she said.

During the visit, Teo also held a bilateral meeting with Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs & Communications Dr. Kunimitsu Ayano.

In the meeting, Teo stated that one of the topics of discussion was cooperation related to 5G Private Network which has been widely used in Japan.

"At the Malaysian level, MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) is writing a policy related to this 5G Private Network," said Teo.

However, she is confident that the sharing of Japan's experience can ensure that when 5G Private Network starts in Malaysia, "we will meet the international standard and we will also avoid mistakes that have been made by other countries.”

On the first day of her visit, Teo paid an official visit to the Minister of State for MCI, Dr Janil Puthucheary, at Hill Street, here.

ATxSG, a tech event where technology intersects with society and the digital economy, is organised by the republic’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Informa Tech. - BERNAMA