KUALA LUMPUR: The removal of any online content is not solely subject to the government's request through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Communication (MCMC), the Dewan Rakyat heard today.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said each social media platform provider also played an important role in monitoring content being uploaded.
"This is to ensure that it does not violate existing local laws, as well as the terms and conditions and community standards set by the platform providers themselves," she said during her ministry's winding up speech on the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia's (Suhakam) annual report for 2021 and 2022.
Teo added that the removal of content by platform providers was subject to their own considerations and assessments based on reports of misuse from platform users and requests from authorities.
"In this case, the content removal mentioned by Muar (Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman) is incorrect because the removal was carried out by TikTok without any request from the MCMC."
Teo added that users could directly contact social media platform providers to enquire about the reasons for the removal of any content.
Yesterday, Syed Saddiq had said he did not believe the government had no hand in the removal of TikTok videos discussing the sale of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to BlackRock, posted by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Khairy had recently posted TikTok notices detailing the removal of two video clips criticising the MAHB privatisation involving BlackRock, a United States-based investment firm.
In his initial TikTok post, Khairy had raised transparency concerns, and argued that this contradicted the government's pledge to uphold good governance, particularly with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim serving as finance minister and Khazanah Nasional Bhd chairman.
In a subsequent video, Khairy questioned Global Infrastructure Partners's (GIP) airport management credentials, highlighting that GIP-owned airports handled approximately 60 million passengers collectively in 2023, significantly lower than the 119 million passengers served by MAHB-owned airports last year.
The government had refuted any involvement in the removal of Khairy's posts.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil clarified that neither his ministry nor the MCMC issued any directives on the matter.