PUTRAJAYA – The government will take action against Meta if the social media giant fails to cooperate with efforts to prevent the targeted spread of fake news on its social platforms, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
Fahmi said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will be meeting Meta representatives next week to discuss online safety concerns. This includes coordinated inauthentic posts aimed at spreading disinformation on Facebook, which is owned by Meta.
Meta also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, among others.
“During the meeting, we intend to address how Meta has been used as a tool to twist facts and spread fake news,” the minister, who is also the unity government spokesperson, told a press conference here today.
“If Meta fails to provide their cooperation in the matter, then the government will take action (against the platform provider).”
Fahmi said this after highlighting that his ministry had yesterday detected “coordinated messaging operations” circulating false accusations against the government relating to the holding of an Islamic religious ceremony.
The minister said MCMC has been instructed to investigate those behind the identical messages, which were mainly shared on Facebook with minor edits to each post.
“Certain quarters have made malicious accusations claiming that there will not be any ‘Majlis Tilawah Al-Quran’ this year either at the national or international level – an allegation which the deputy religious affairs minister has already denied.
“MCMC has been told to identify those involved in such operations so that necessary and stern action can be taken against those who attempt to manipulate facts.”
Besides that, Fahmi also said Meta and other online platform providers will have to answer how children under the age of 13 have been allowed to create accounts on some social media sites.
“Children under 13 should not be able to have an account on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok,” he said.
“Platform providers have failed to push strict mechanisms to prevent these children from opening an account.” – April 3, 2024