ASEAN Beat | Security | Southeast Asia

Malaysian PM Anwar Bans Civil Servants From Using Israel-developed Navigation App

Anwar Ibrahim said that Waze, which was developed in Tel Aviv before being acquired by Google in 2013, could be “exploited by the Israeli regime.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim chairs a meeting of the National Cyber ​​Security Committee (JKSN) in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Oct. 20, 2026.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has prohibited civil servants from using Waze, a popular navigation app developed in Israel, warning that its use could compromise “national security and sovereignty.”

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Anwar said that the ban was intended to “protect government information and users’ personal data from the threat of misuse by the Israeli regime.”

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