KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil today said he did not order media outlets to disable comments on their social media accounts.
He said media outlets have the right to impose restrictions on their platforms, including by blocking comments.
“I would like to remind the honourable members about the Federal Court’s ruling in 2021 concerning readers’ comments on a news portal.
“The Federal Court ruled that the platform is accountable for the comments posted, so we must exercise caution over comments.”
He said this in reply to a supplementary question from Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas) about disabled comment sections on several media outlets’ social media accounts, and the need to balance freedom of expression with legal measures against cyberbullying.
Meanwhile, responding to a supplementary question from R. Yuneswaran (PH-Segamat) about his ministry’s moves to ensure effective content moderation on social media in various languages, Fahmi said he has held talks with TikTok.
“Each media platform manages its own moderation team, and in terms of monitoring by the MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission), it depends on public complaints, among others.
“We have noticed a current trend in TikTok Live sessions occurring late at night; and in the case of a TikTok Live held by the late Rajeswary Appahu, it took place around 3am or 4am, so adjustments in monitoring are necessary.
“In my discussions with TikTok, the platform took this incident seriously and has increased the number of moderators monitoring live TikTok content and sessions in vernacular languages, including Tamil,” he said.
The media previously reported that Rajeswary, popularly known as Esha, was found dead in a condominium unit in Setapak on July 5, a day after lodging a police report over threats against her online.
— Bernama
