Malaysia to warn TikTok, Meta over blocking of pro-Palestinian content

Malaysia's communications regulator will issue a warning to social media firms Tiktok and Meta for allegedly blocking pro-Palestinian content on their platforms, its communications minister said.

"If this issue is ignored, I will not hesitate to take a very firm approach and stance," Fahmi Fadzil said on Thursday in a posting on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Without elaborating, Fahmi said many parties had urged the government to take firm action against social media platforms for allegedly restricting pro-Palestinian content.

Representatives of Tiktok and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fahmi said Malaysians have a right to freedom of speech regarding the Palestinian cause, adding that right will not be taken away.

The concerns come two weeks after Fahmi said TikTok had not complied fully with Malaysia's laws and had not done enough to curb defamatory or misleading content.

TikTok in a response said it would take proactive measures to address the issues raised.