Yesterday, we reported that the new Digital Communications Minister, Fahmi Fadzil, met with representatives from TikTok to discuss the offensive and misleading content that was circulating on the platform.
As a result of the meeting, The Vibes reported that according to Fahmi, in the week following the 15th general election, TikTok automatically removed 1,126 videos that it deemed to contain “extremist content.”
Additionally, TikTok blocked 857 videos prior to the general election and 130 videos on election day.
We started with TikTok because we saw a lot of May 13 videos, for example. That was a serious cause for concern. We also reached out to Meta, because we would like to include WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.
Digital Communications Minister, Fahmi Fadzil.
He also added that people are still using TikTok to spread offensive content and the ministry is considering how to better regulate the content.
Fahmi noted that while TikTok’s artificial intelligence system manages the platform’s automated blocking mechanism, government organisations had also complained to the short-form video-sharing company.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) sent in 202 requests for certain clips to be removed.
A total of 95 videos were then taken down for violating TikTok’s community guidelines while another 28 were removed for going against laws in the country. TikTok decided to take no action against 79 of the complaints.
Digital Communications Minister, Fahmi Fadzil.
Fahmi hoped the discussion would lead to a closer working relationship between the government and social media businesses as well as an examination of current legal frameworks to make sure social media owners are more receptive to demands from the government.
He said, attempts to enhance legislation against hate speech will be made without compromising the right to free speech while authorities examine current laws for any improvements.
