On Monday, Mohamed Saeed, the Minister of Economic Development & Trade, convened with social media content creators and media experts to gather their views on the loan for content creators.

On Sunday, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced that the technical preparations for initiating a soft loan program for content creators in the Maldives are almost finished. In his X post, he also required that soft loans for social media content creators be accessible within the following two weeks.

The loan program intends to enhance the creative economy's role and create chances for young people to engage more actively in the industry, he stated.

In a post on X on Monday, Saeed mentioned that he met with individuals involved in creating audio and video content for social media, as well as those working in media sales and marketing.

“We are striving to implement the program in alignment with the perspectives of the stakeholders in these fields,” he stated.

He stated that the loan aims to create business opportunities in various industries.

There has been a significant rise in social media usage among individuals of various ages in the Maldives. These consist of individuals who engage on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

Although the government has started providing loans to content creators, many individuals have voiced worries that the existing media bill in the ruling PNC-supermajority parliament will further limit opinions shared on social media.

The committee stage saw the bill approved as journalists protested. The government stated the bill was approved after considering the concerns and making modifications.

Furthermore, the PNC has consistently stated that it will not oversee social media.