Malaysian authorities say that they’re now working with Facebook owner META in order to curb online criminal acts, in particular related to online gambling, scams and other illicit activities.

According to official statistics, losses suffered by Malays through META’s operating platforms – namely Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – totalled some RM330 million ($70.94 million) in just the first five months of the year.

The figure amounts to a 25 percent increase over the total registered in 2022.

This comes after a late June announcement by authorities that they would be taking legal action against META over its failure to remove ‘undesirable’ posts on its platforms – this includes sensitive race and religion-related content.

In an about turn less than two weeks later, META has now pledged to work with Malay authorities, in particular the Communications and Digital Ministry and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, alongside the police.