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PETALING JAYA: Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil has suggested that Malaysian news outlets explore signing commercial agreements with social media platforms amid concerns over dwindling advertising revenue.

Fahmi said that in Malaysia, annual advertising expenditure was estimated to be about RM4.5 billion.

However, he said media organisations had told him about RM2.5 billion of that advertising expenditure is eing funnelled directly to social media platforms, bypassing traditional media outlets.

"This has affected many media organisations. As a result, we have seen many long-serving, dedicated and experienced journalists being let go, which is extremely worrying,"he said at a press conference here today.

While acknowledging the severity of the situation, Fahmi said the government would not intervene at this time.

Instead, he encouraged media organisations to negotiate with social media platforms to find a way forward, possibly through commercial deals.

"At this point, we do not feel the need to follow in the footsteps of other countries. We believe it’s necessary to strike our own path and seek an equilibrium, a meeting point between media organisations and social media platforms,"he said.

In 2021, Australia’s Parliament passed landmark legislation that made it a requirement for global digital giants to pay publishers and broadcasters for local news content.

This meant Google has to pay for news content that appears on its "Showcase" product, while Facebook also pays providers who appear on its "news" tab.

However, in February, Facebook’s parent company. Meta Platforms, decided to scrap the news tab in Australia and the US. It had already done so in the UK, France and Germany.

News articles however still appear on the feed of Facebook users.