Communications ministry seeks TikTok monetisation path for local media

Malaysia’s Communications Ministry is looking to engage with TikTok over monetisation opportunities for local media organisations producing livestream content on the platform.

Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said the matter had been repeatedly raised by editors-in-chief, particularly around the inability of media organisations to generate revenue from livestream broadcasts hosted on official accounts, based on local media reports. 

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Festival Belia @ National Youth Day 2026 celebration for the Federal Territories, Fahmi said media companies should be able to benefit financially from the audiences they attract through high-quality content on social platforms.

According to Fahmi, several editors had highlighted concerns that certain social media platforms, including TikTok, currently do not provide sufficient monetisation mechanisms for media organisations despite strong viewer engagement on livestreams.

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The ministry is now prepared to hold discussions with TikTok Malaysia to explore possible monetisation models that could better support the local media ecosystem.

Fahmi added that the issue extends beyond TikTok, noting that many social platforms continue to benefit from professionally produced content published by news organisations and official media accounts. However, he said there remains a gap when it comes to revenue-sharing opportunities for publishers driving significant traffic and viewership on these platforms.

He pointed to scenarios where media organisations attract tens or even hundreds of thousands of viewers to livestream broadcasts through their official channels, but are still unable to receive financial returns or audience contributions linked to that engagement.

The discussions come amid wider industry concerns around the sustainability of digital publishing and the growing dependence on platform distribution for audience reach.

Fahmi said the ministry would continue working with social media platforms to support a more sustainable media landscape and identify monetisation approaches that better support local publishers and broadcasters.

This comes as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) just issued a statutory demand against TikTok over alleged failures to remove offensive content and fake accounts targeting the Malaysian Royal Institution, last week. 

The regulator said the platform’s moderation response had been unsatisfactory despite prior engagements, particularly involving AI-generated and manipulated content linked to an account impersonating His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim. TikTok has been instructed to strengthen moderation measures and explain the lapses.

In September, TikTok was at the brink of facing legal action if it failed to take action against online crimes, communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said. The minister said the platform has failed to provide enough moderators to monitor and review harmful content. This includes harmful content such as cyberbullying, fake content, scams and violations involving underage users.

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