Malaysian Government Asks Meta And TikTok To Limit Thousands Of Content

Meta and TikTok limit thousands of content in Malaysia (photo: dock. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Meta and TikTok have shared reports on content restrictions on their platforms. From the data shared, it was revealed that the two had restricted thousands of content in Malaysia.

During the first six months of 2023, Meta has limited 3,100 content, while TikTok has removed or restricted 4,083 content. This report is in the spotlight because the figure is the highest number of content restrictions since 2019.

However, what needs to be underlined is that this highest content restriction is not due to the will of Meta or TikTok. Meta says that it limits 2,476 content due to requests from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Similar to Meta's confession, TikTok stated that, "We accept such requests from the government. We review and take action against content in accordance with applicable Community Guidelines, Service Requirements, and laws."

For the high number of restrictions on this content, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is accused of lying about the protection of freedom of expression on social media. However, the government denies these allegations.

Quoted from Reuters, the government acknowledged that they submitted content restrictions to Meta and TikTok. However, these limited content are provocative and related to racial, religious, and royal issues.

Malaysian Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that his party was only following up on complaints from users on social media. Therefore, Fahmi stated that the accusation of limiting content for government purposes was not true.