CYBERJAYA – The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has disclosed a series of challenges it has grappled with while engaging with social media giants, TikTok and Meta.
According to MCMC Consumer and Industry Affairs senior director Eneng Faridah Iskandar, the commission’s encounters with these content platforms have raised persistent concerns among users.
These issues encompass real instances of coordinated inauthentic behaviour, involving the proliferation of online messages by bots.
A particularly pressing concern lay in the depths of the “For You” page algorithm, which poses severe consequences – especially for young individuals seeking information on sensitive topics.
“There are very real cases of coordinated inauthentic behaviour (on social media sites), which means that there are bots out there pushing through certain online messages.
“Another issue is the For You page algorithm – which has serious repercussions (for instance) young people looking for information on suicide will be fed continuously with such information,” she said, referring to the TikTok page filled with recommended videos the app curates for its users.
Eneng said this when speaking as a panellist at the National Press Club’s post-National Journalists’ Day (Hawana 2023) conference at the MCMC Centre of Excellence, here, yesterday.
Meanwhile, Eneng added that global platform providers also had trouble understanding the cultural context of certain complaints from the public.
“One of the challenges we faced with platform providers like Meta and TikTok was in pushing for an understanding of cultural and environmental context on issues that we received complaints from the public.
“This is the problem with internationalised platforms – they have community standards, but which community (are they referring to)? Is it a suburb in Los Angeles?” she asked.
Earlier today, Scoop reported that a bipartisan coalition of 42 United States’ attorney-generals filed a federal suit against Meta, alleging that the provider, among others, designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that hook children and teens to their mental and physical detriment.
Filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the suit seeks injunctive and monetary relief to address what the attorneys general deem as “Meta’s misconduct”.
California Attorney-General Bonta said in a statement that bipartisan investigations arrived at a solemn conclusion: “Meta has been harming our children and teens, cultivating addiction to boost corporate profits.
“With today’s lawsuit, we are drawing the line. We must protect our children and we will not back down from this fight. I am grateful for the collaboration of my fellow state attorneys general in standing up for our children and holding Meta accountable.” – October 27, 2023