KUALA LUMPUR – Newly-minted Digital Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil will be meeting Malaysian representatives of TikTok tomorrow in wake of the emergence of hate-fuelled propaganda on the popular social media platform.
Fahmi, who is also serving his second term as Lembah Pantai MP, said he is expected to seek clarity on the platform’s regulatory framework with regard to racial and religious sensitivities.
“I’d like to find out about TikTok Malaysia’s system (for regulating content). Why is it that we are seeing so much extremist and racist content that is being perpetuated?” he told The Vibes when contacted this evening.
“The regulatory framework is something that I am concerned about as well as the immediate steps that can be taken, given the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers have called on the people and politicians to unite.
The meeting was called following concerns raised on misinformation and messages touching on the deadly riots of May 13, 1969, which made their rounds on social media following the recent general election (GE15).
While the clips are posted by ordinary citizens, many social media users have allegedly determined that these uploaders are Perikatan Nasional (PN) proponents.
A few users even claimed that some children in schools are openly discussing the danger of supporting a government involving DAP, in what appears to be a result of indoctrination by false narratives.
Addressing concerns over incendiary content on social media, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) interim chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din issued a statement warning of stern action against netizens who promoted hate speech and provocative content.
Commenting further, Fahmi said all social media outlets needed to assist in the government’s efforts in ensuring extremist elements were not spreading their message through the platforms.
Fahmi cited the regulations introduced by Facebook after the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign, which saw the social media giant address allegations of foreign intervention on its platform.
“As a result, we saw how Meta (the parent company of Facebook) began altering both their algorithm as well as ensuring that whoever wants to boost political messages during an election is better regulated,” Fahmi said.
“There is no clarity on the framework of TikTok when it comes to this – not only during elections in Malaysia, but in general. So this is worrying not only in Malaysia, but many other countries face a similar issue or situation.”
However, despite the topic of the meeting, Fahmi said it was on cordial terms as he would like to hear directly from TikTok representatives.
“I’d like to hear from them on why they have allowed their platform to spread this kind of (extremist) messaging and how far along have their discussions with MCMC been,” Fahmi, who was appointed the ministerial post on Saturday, said.
“Technically, it’s my first day at the office. So I would like a nice atmosphere that is conducive for dialogue and discussion.”
On the recent arrest of Zulfadzli, popularly known on Twitter as @bumilangit, for highlighting the alarming May 13 videos on his profile, Fahmi said this was a case of “mistaken identity”.
Fahmi said although he did not know the case details, it is clear that Zulfadzli is not the content creator.
He said that when it comes to highlighting extremists and violent messaging, authorities must understand the difference between content creator, sharer, aggregator, or whistleblower.
“In the case of Bumilangit, he was calling out videos on TikTok. It was partly because of him that we had news outlets further doing investigative research and discovering that three out of the Tik Tok videos on May 13 were sponsored,” Fahmi said.
“Someone is pointing out a potential crime here and he is the one getting arrested. I think that is not right.” – The Vibes, December 4, 2022
