KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s government said Friday it will take legal action against Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms, for failing to remove undesirable and harmful content from its social media platform.
The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission said Facebook has recently been plagued by a “a significant volume of undesirable content” relating to sensitive issues on race, religion and royalty as well as defamation, impersonation, online gambling and scam advertisements. The commission said repeated efforts to reach out to Meta to remove harmful content were of no avail. “Meta’s response, which has been sluggish and unsatisfactory, has not met the urgency of the matter and has led to increasing public concern and scrutiny,” it said in a statement.
The commission said it will not tolerate abuse of online platforms and telecommunications services for “malicious cyber activities, phishing, or any content that threatens racial stability, social harmony and defies respect for the rulers.” Malaysia has nine ethnic Malay state rulers, whose role is largely ceremonial but held in esteem among the country’s Malay majority.
