Malaysia vows action on "undesirable" Facebook posts
Malaysia said on Friday it will take legal action against Facebook parent Meta Platforms for failing to remove "undesirable" posts, the strongest measure the country has taken to date over such content. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's administration has vowed to curb what it calls provocative posts that touch on race and religion since coming to power in November after a closely fought election in the Southeast Asian nation that has led to a rise in ethnic tensions. Facebook has recently been "plagued by" a significant volume of undesirable content relating to race, royalty, religion, defamation, impersonation, online gambling and scam advertisements, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said in a statement. It said Meta had failed to take sufficient action despite its repeated requests and that legal action was necessary to promote accountability for cybersecurity and to protect consumers. Meta did not respond to a request for comment. Asked what legal action it might take, the commission said in an emailed statement on Saturday that allowing abuse of network facilities or application services can be offences under Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The law also allows for officials of the company to be charged for "wilfully providing means and aiding criminal activity" if prompt action is not taken, it said. Race and religion are thorny issues in Malaysia, which has a majority of Muslim ethnic Malays alongside significant ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities. Facebook is Malaysia's biggest social media platform, with an estimated 60 percent of the country's 33 million people having a registered account. (Reuters)