KUALA LUMPUR – Social media platforms do not take direct instructions from any government regarding the removal of content, but insist on self-regulating what users upload, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.
Answering supplementary questions from Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muar-Independent) in Parliament today, Teo said authorities can submit requests to remove content, but the platforms make their own decisions.
Pointing to Syed Saddiq’s status as a social media influencer with a high following on TikTok, Teo said he should be able to understand the procedures involved.
“YB (Syed Saddiq) believes that TikTok will take instructions from the Malaysian government.”
“TikTok, Facebook…they are big, multinational companies, they do not take orders from a government, but they will make their own assessment of whether they agree with a request from any government.
“They (platforms) also have their own community guidelines,” Teo, who is Kulai MP, said.
Syed Saddiq claimed authorities had removed content critical of the government from TikTok as a tactic to silence the people.
In response, Teo said Syed Saddiq’s claim was baseless.
She also said that there are requests from the government that have been rejected by the platforms involved.
“The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) procedure is that when we (the government) receive a report, we will submit a request to Facebook, TikTok, X, and other platforms.
“But in the end, they (the social media applications) will make their own decision whether to agree with the views of MCMC and the government.
“If any content is taken down, it shows that the platform agrees with the government’s request,” she said. – February 27, 2024