Malaysia's regulator asks Anthropic for evidence on a Claude-built election influence campaign
In a written reply to Parliament, the Communications Ministry said the MCMC will use the Communications and Multimedia Act and the Online Safety Act 2025, while a separate AI Governance Bill is being drafted.
Why it matters
The case stems from an Anthropic threat report published in September, which said a commercial actor used Claude to build parts of a covert political influence operation. Anthropic attributed it to Istanbul-based BBS Bilisim Teknolojileri, which denied involvement on 11 September. The operation tried to build synthetic personas, bot accounts and propaganda sites and profiled voters in all 222 parliamentary constituencies. Anthropic said it shut the accounts and saw no meaningful organic traction. The ministry gave no timeline for the AI bill.
Key facts
- Written reply given to Parliament on 3 November
- MCMC has sought technical clarification and evidence from Anthropic
- Voter profiling covered all 222 federal constituencies
- Anthropic's report named Istanbul-based BBS Bilisim Teknolojileri, which denies involvement