Malaysia orders Meta, TikTok to forge plans on harmful content

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has ordered tech giants Meta and TikTok to present plans to combat harmful content online, authorities said on Tuesday (Apr 9), after the country reported an uptick in offensive material on social media platforms.

The government reported more than 50,000 such cases to various social media platforms, including Meta’s Facebook and TikTok, in the first three months of this year alone, the Communications and Multimedia Commission and national police said in a statement.

They added that the number of cases for the whole of last year was about 43,000.

While they did not specify any examples, authorities said they were particularly concerned about posts connected to race, religion and royalty.