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META has taken decisive action against online scams in Southeast Asia, removing approximately 12 million accounts linked to fraudulent activities originating from scam hubs in Cambodia and Myanmar during the first half of this year.
Additionally, over 157 million scam-related advertisements violating company policies have been deleted since last year.
Dr Rafael Frankel, Meta’s Director of Public Policy for Southeast Asia, described these efforts as part of the company’s ongoing and proactive campaign to combat the growing prevalence of online fraud that ensnares numerous victims across the region.
“We also carry out intelligence-sharing partnerships with law enforcement agencies, both in Southeast Asia and the United States,” he said during the US-Malaysia Digital Dialogue organised by the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
“These efforts have led to several recent arrests in Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand of criminals involved in online scams.”
Frankel emphasised the need for a collaborative approach to regulating social media and tackling online fraud, involving financial service providers such as banks and payment companies, telecommunications firms, governments, law enforcement, and civil society, rather than relying solely on digital platform operators.
“Governments and enforcement agencies must act decisively to shut down these scam centres, which we cannot do alone. The locations and individuals involved are known, so there must be the will and determination to close these centres,” he added. “Our responsibility is to do our utmost to prevent our platforms from being exploited by these criminals.”
On the subject of social media regulation for children and teenagers, Frankel argued that banning access is not a practical solution. Instead, parental involvement is crucial, including setting age verification controls on devices and monitoring online activity.
“Banning social media targeted only at platforms is ineffective. As a parent, I am more concerned about the games played and videos watched by children,” he said. “This concerns the entire online ecosystem. Parents can enforce age verification early on, and that information should come directly from them.”
In a related development, Meta is set to lay off approximately 600 employees from its artificial intelligence (AI) division as part of an effort to streamline decision-making and operations, according to reports by the German news agency dpa.
Alexandr Wang, Meta’s Chief AI Officer who joined the company in June following a US$14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, announced the job cuts in an internal memo confirmed by Meta’s spokesperson. The layoffs will affect staff across AI infrastructure, Fundamental AI Research, and product-focused units, but not the newly established TBD lab.
Affected employees in the United States were informed on Wednesday morning, with termination dates set for 21 November. Meta is offering 16 weeks’ severance pay plus an additional two weeks per year of service, and encourages those impacted to apply for other roles within the company.
According to reports, CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed dissatisfaction with the slow progress in Meta’s AI development following mixed reactions to the Llama 4 model. The restructuring aims to reduce bureaucracy and accelerate decision-making, creating a more agile AI team, said Wang.
Despite the layoffs, Meta continues to invest heavily in AI, including a US$27 billion agreement with Blue Owl Capital to finance the Hyperion data centre in Louisiana. - October 23, 2025
