KUALA LUMPUR: Two video clips featuring former Umno leader Khairy Jamaluddin discussing contentious issues related to Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and BlackRock were removed by TikTok, citing alleged violations of community guidelines.
Upon review, the clips, which were initially part of Khairy's Keluar Sekejap podcast and shared on other platforms, did not appear to breach any guidelines.
In one of the removed clips, Khairy criticised Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who also serves as Finance Minister and Chairman of Khazanah Nasional, for a lack of transparency regarding the planned sale of MAHB shares.
Referencing Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan's statement that the deal was "too far advanced" for effective opposition from cabinet ministers, Khairy argued that this contradicted the administration's emphasis on good governance in the wake of the 1MDB scandal.
Khazanah leads a consortium, including Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and BlackRock-affiliated companies, poised to take over MAHB.
Previously, Anwar had said that cancelling deals with companies linked to Israel, such as BlackRock, would negatively impact the economy.
GIP, which will own a 25 per cent stake in MAHB if the takeover proceeds, clarified that BlackRock would not be involved in airport operations.
In the second removed clip, Khairy questioned GIP's expertise compared to MAHB in managing airports.
He noted that GIP's four airports – London City, Gatwick, Edinburgh, and Sydney – handled around 60 million passengers in 2023, whereas MAHB airports managed approximately 119 million passengers.
Khairy shared TikTok's removal of the clips on his Instagram page.
Previously, TikTok reported that between June and December 2023, the Malaysian government made the most content removal requests to the platform, totaling 1,862 requests, followed by Australia with 651 requests.