Digital Divide, Cybersecurity Risk Perceptions, and Trust in Malaysian Government E-Participation: A PLS-SEM and fsQCA Analysis

Abstract

Government digital platforms have expanded rapidly across Southeast Asia, yet citizen e-participation remains persistently low. This study examines how the digital divide and cybersecurity-related risk perceptions are associated with e-participation and perceived platform effectiveness in Malaysia’s government digital platform context, and whether institutional, technology, and procedural trust moderate risk–outcome associations. Drawing on a stratified quota sample of n = 339 Malaysian government digital platform users, the study employs a complementary dual-method design: Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) for variable-oriented analysis and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) for configurational analysis. PLS-SEM path estimates show positive associations of physical access and digital skills with both outcomes, while all three cybersecurity-related risk perceptions—privacy risk, security risk, and misinformation risk—show significant negative associations with both. None of the eighteen trust × risk interactions tested survives correction for multiple testing; within this design, trust is more consistently observed as a positive direct correlate of e-participation than as a demonstrable conditional moderator. fsQCA identifies physical access as the only necessary condition for both outcomes under the reported calibration and reveals nine equifinal configurations sufficient for above-average participation within this user sample, all resting on an access-and-skills base and differentiated by core combinations of low perceived risk, affordability, and trust; configurations associated with low participation combine elevated risk perceptions with absent trust. These findings advance understanding of digital governance inclusivity, identify one necessary condition and several sample-relative sufficient configurations associated with citizen digital engagement, and offer targeted policy guidance for Malaysian e-governance.