Malaysia Calls TikTok Management Regarding Delayed Handling Fake News

Malaysian Minister of Communications, Fahmi Fadzil (photo: x @komunikasi_gov)

JAKARTA - Malaysian authorities have summoned TikTok's top management for alleged delays in the social media platform in dealing with fake news. This was reported by the news agency Named on Tuesday, September 2, citing the Malaysian communications ministry.

Malaysia's Communications Minister, Fahmi Fadzil, said TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, was too slow in responding to requests for assistance for police investigations, prompting it to seek help from the company's CEO, the name reporting.

Fahmi mentioned a recent case in which a man falsely confessed on TikTok as a pathological person involved in the investigation into the death of a Malaysian teenager who received a lot of attention, according to the report.

"TikTok is very slow in providing information... to the point that I have to call TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to tell him, 'this is a crime that is being committed and your organization is very slow'," Fahmi was quoted as saying by Bernama. "We can't allow such an attitude."

TikTok will be called to Malaysian police headquarters on Thursday, September 4 where police chiefs and attorneys general are expected to attend.

Malaysia has stepped up scrutiny of social media companies in recent years, having reported a sharp increase in malicious content on their platforms.

Malaysian authorities consider online gambling, fraud, child pornography and child recruitment (grooming), cyberbullying, and racial, religious and royal content as dangerous.

Fahmi said Meta, the parent company of Facebook's social media platforms and messaging, WhatsApp, and Instagram, will also be called up regarding the spread of "forbidden" content, including images related to pedophilia, Named Reporting. TikTok and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"We see these platforms not taking this issue seriously, so the dialogue process will continue, and we will emphasize that Malaysian law applies to them and they must obey. We will call on every platform," said Fahmi Fadzil.