KUALA LUMPUR – The government will be keeping an eye on the social media platform TikTok, following the latter’s denial of having blocked pro-Palestinian content, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said while TikTok claimed to have not carried out such blockings, the government will continue to monitor the situation.
“They (TikTok) have denied it, but we will have to continue to monitor them,” he told reporters briefly when met after Friday prayers in Putrajaya.
The prime minister was asked to comment on TikTok’s “defiance” against the government’s claim that it had blocked pro-Palestinian content.
Earlier today, Reuters reported that a TikTok spokesman informed the news agency that the government’s claim is “unfounded”.
“Our community guidelines apply equally to all content on TikTok, and we’re committed to consistently enforcing our policies to protect our community,” the spokesman was quoted as saying.
The report also said Meta asserted that there was “no truth” to the “accusations” by the Malaysian government.
Yesterday, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil revealed that there was evidence of TikTok having systematically taken down or removed content originating from Malaysia related to the Palestine-Israel war.
He said that this was proven after numerous users of the platform complained to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) that their content and live broadcasts had been taken down or restricted, including those related to Anwar’s speech during the Malaysia Stands with Palestine rally last Tuesday.
Fahmi added that he had asked MCMC to issue a strong warning to Meta (parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) and Tiktok.
For the record, Fahmi had met with TikTok on Wednesday to convey the government’s position on the matter, with another meeting expected to be held next week. – October 27, 2023