Malaysia announced on Friday its intention to take legal action against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, for its failure to remove “undesirable” posts. This move marks the strongest action the country has taken thus far in response to such content.
Since coming to power in November after a closely contested election, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration has been determined to address what it considers provocative posts that touch on race and religion. These issues have led to increased ethnic tensions in the Southeast Asian nation.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission stated that Facebook has been inundated with a significant amount of undesirable content related to race, royalty, religion, defamation, impersonation, online gambling, and scam advertisements. Despite repeated requests, Meta has not taken sufficient action, prompting the need for legal measures to promote cybersecurity accountability and consumer protection.
Meta has not commented on the matter, and the commission has not disclosed the specific legal action it may take. However, it highlighted that allowing the abuse of network facilities or application services can be considered offenses under Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The law also holds company officials liable for “wilfully providing means and aiding criminal activity” if immediate action is not taken.
Race and religion are sensitive topics in Malaysia, where the majority of the population is Muslim ethnic Malays, along with significant Chinese and Indian minorities. Criticism of the country’s revered royals is also a delicate issue, with negative remarks potentially violating sedition laws.
This action against Facebook comes just before elections in six states that will likely pit Anwar’s multi-ethnic coalition against a conservative Malay Muslim alliance. Facebook is the largest social media platform in Malaysia, with an estimated 60% of the country’s 33 million people having registered accounts.
Globally, major social media companies, including Meta, YouTube, and TikTok, often face regulatory scrutiny regarding the content on their platforms. Several Southeast Asian governments have frequently requested the removal of specific content.
In 2020, Vietnam threatened to shut down Facebook if it did not comply with government requests to censor more local political content. In Indonesia, Facebook took down numerous local accounts, pages, and groups associated with a fake news syndicate in 2019.
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