Kuala Lampur, July 7 -- While Malaysia champions its Gig Workers Act 2025 as a progressive safety net, the reality is that it hurts workers by cementing their second-class status, forcing them to fund their own social security through wage deductions while reinforcing the systematic power asymmetry of platforms that control algorithms, pricing, and arbitrary account deactivations without employer accountability.

A deep comparative analysis reveals that the Act gets it fundamentally wrong.

By institutionalising a "third worker category" instead of tackling the root problem of employment misclassification, Malaysia has inadvertently protected tech monopolies rather than the vulnerable workers navigating them.

In contrast, the EU Platform...