KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — The government has no authority to block any TikTok account, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
In dismissing the allegation by Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor that the government had banned access to or deleted the content of his TikTok account, Saifuddin Nasution said the government had many other things to do.
He said the application belonging to Bytedance.Ltd, which is a technology company from China, was the same as other social media applications where users have to adhere to the guidelines.
“Does the Malaysian government have the authority to ban the TikTok account?… the answer is no. If TikTok receives a lot of reports and complaints from the public, then TikTok will ban the account.
“So, it was the public who initiated the ban, not the government. The public filed complaints and TikTok imposed the ban. Today, the Kedah MB said his TikTok content was erased. He said Malaysia has become like North Korea!
“I certainly do not agree because it wasn’t the government that did it, we have a lot of other things to do,” he said in a Facebook post today.
Earlier, during a ceramah in Baling, Kedah, Muhammad Sanusi claimed that his TikTok account was blocked and described it as another attempt to prevent him from campaigning virtually ahead of the state polls.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) stressed that it did not receive any instructions to block access to or deleted the content of the TikTok account of the Kedah Menteri Besar.
The MCMC said it had scrutinised Muhammad Sanusi’s statement claiming that the government had blocked access to or deleted the content of his TikTok account.
“The MCMC can confirm (that) no instruction was received regarding this issue,” it said in a statement.
According to the MCMC, social media platforms have community guidelines that determine actions can be taken against any users automatically when there is a violation of the guidelines, or based on public complaints.
“Such community guidelines set the expectations, promote inclusiveness and reduce harmful or offensive content that can disrupt public harmony,” it said.
