TikTok risks legal action over content moderation issues, says Fahmi

“I am generally very dissatisfied with TikTok’s attitude in not being serious about taking certain actions to resolve issues we have raised before,” he said in a press conference after meeting with TikTok’s top management today.

Fahmi cited the case of TikTok influencer A Rajeswary, better known as Esha, who was a victim of cyberbullying.

“TikTok promised that the number of moderators it would place to monitor content, including TikTok Live, would be increased.

“However, in today’s meeting it failed to state the number of moderators it had added to monitor and assess content, including TikTok Live, in the Tamil language.

“We have repeatedly asked it to provide the figures and it has repeatedly failed. I leave it to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to examine what actions can be taken,” he added.

Fahmi also disclosed that between Jan 1 and Aug 31 this year, the MCMC had removed 76,002 TikTok videos.

He also revealed that some 10,730 TikTok videos were not removed despite requests to do so, which meant that the “removal percentage” stood at 86%.

“It is important for me to emphasise that takedowns are carried out by the platform itself based on the guidelines they have published.

“So even if MCMC requests for certain content to be removed, if the platform views, based on legal considerations, that it does not violate their community guidelines, then the content is not removed.”

He added that one of the major problems on social media platforms, including TikTok, was the presence of children under the age of 13.

According to the company’s guidelines, those aged 13 and below are allowed to have a TikTok account.

“These are among the matters conveyed to TikTok, that there must be a mechanism for age verification. We leave it to TikTok, MCMC and the police to study what mechanisms are used and to consider what has been done in other countries as well.”