Meta, TikTok report jump in Malaysia govt requests to remove content in 2023

Between January and June this year, Meta restricted about 3,100 pages and posts on its Facebook and Instagram platforms from being viewed by users in Malaysia because they were reported to have allegedly violated local laws, according to data published in the firm’s twice-yearly Transparency Report this month.

The figure was six times higher than in the previous half-year period and the highest since the company began reporting content restrictions in Malaysia in 2017.

Meta said between July 2022 and June 2023, it restricted access to more than 3,500 items in response to reports by Malaysia’s communications regulator and other government agencies.

The content included criticism of the government and posts that allegedly violated laws on illegal gambling, hate speech, racially or religiously divisive content, bullying and financial scams, Meta’s report said.

Short video platform TikTok, in a similar report issued last month, said it had received 340 requests from the Malaysian government to remove or restrict content between January and June 2023, affecting 890 posts and accounts.

TikTok removed or restricted 815 of those for violating local laws or the platform’s community guidelines – the highest in a six-month period since it began reporting requests from Malaysia in 2019, the data showed. It was triple the number TikTok removed in the second half of 2022.

Malaysia made more requests to restrict content on TikTok than any other government in Southeast Asia, the data showed. Meta did not publish the total number of government requests it received for content restrictions.

The Malaysian government did not respond to a request for comment on the data. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said this week the communications regulator often acted upon complaints from ordinary users, denying allegations that he had requested the agency to seek the removal of posts critical of him on social media.