KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia warned TikTok on Thursday (Sep 3) to crack down on age restrictions for users in the Southeast Asian nation to stop cyberbullying, saying the social media platform could face penalties for non-compliance.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said there had been an upswell of cyberbullying incidents, as well as a recent raft of deepfake scams mainly posted on platforms such as TikTok and Facebook.
“TikTok states that children under 13 are not allowed (to have an account), but the reality is, it’s happening,” Fahmi told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.
“I am not satisfied with TikTok’s attitude of not being serious in taking action to tackle these issues,” he said after meeting TikTok officials at the Malaysian police headquarters in the capital.
“These are the matters mentioned to TikTok. There needs to be a system of age verification,” Fahmi said.
He added that he “will leave it” to TikTok, Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and police to flesh out details.
TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, could not be reached immediately for comment.
Malaysia is introducing a comprehensive new set of laws in October to boost online safety, especially for minors.
Source: CNA
