Malaysia will sue Meta for hosting “undesirable” content

Malaysia declared on Friday that it would sue Facebook parent company Meta for refusing to remove “undesirable” material. Since taking power in November, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration has pledged to curb “provocative remarks” on race and religion. Last year’s fiercely contested national election contributed to an upsurge in ethnic tensions.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission stated in a statement that Facebook has recently been “plagued by” a sizable amount of objectionable information regarding race, religion, royalty impersonation , defamation, online gambling, and scam marketing. Additionally, it stated that despite the body’s repeated demands, Meta had not taken appropriate action, as well as legal action was required to encourage cybersecurity accountability to protect customers.

An inquiry for comment from Meta wasn’t immediately given a response. A question about possible legal action was also not quickly answered by the commission.

A few weeks away from regional elections in six states, which are anticipated to put Anwar’s multiethnic coalition over a conservative Malay Muslim alliance, comes the action against Facebook. Approximately 60% of Malaysia’s 33 million people have established accounts on Facebook, making it the largest social media network in the country.

Large social media companies like Meta, Google’s YouTube, and TikTok are frequently inspected by regulatory authorities for the content that is posted on their sites. The removal of content has regularly been requested by some governments in Southeast Asia.