Malaysia orders TikTok to join ‘defamation’ about king | Social Media

Watchdog advises media giant to strengthen self-restraint following ‘extremely bad’ coverage.

Malaysia’s internet watchdog has ordered TikTok to take action against “offensive and defamatory” posts about the country’s monarchy.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said on Thursday it had ordered the video-sharing group to take “corrective measures” in response to an account allegedly linked to King Sultan Ibrahim.

The MCMC said its order required the media company to strengthen its control policies and provide “clear explanations” for its failure to prevent “obscene, false, dangerous and obscene” content, including AI-generated videos and photo-edited images.

The watchdog said it takes a “serious view” of online platforms that are used to spread falsehoods or “harmful to the public order”, especially related to the monarchy.

It added that it issued the order after finding TikTok’s responses to previous notifications to be “unsatisfactory”.

TikTok, founded by Chinese company ByteDance, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“MCMC will continue to take strong and effective action where necessary to ensure that digital platforms operating in Malaysia live up to their responsibilities in maintaining a safe, secure and respectful online environment,” the watchdog said in a statement.

Malaysia, which is a constitutional monarchy, punishes speech deemed to incite “hatred or contempt” against the royal family under the Sedition Act, which was enacted in 1948.

The regulator’s order against TikTok is the latest move by Southeast Asian authorities to regulate social media platforms.

In January, the MCMC briefly blocked access to its AI assistant Grok amid international controversy over its use to create pornographic images of people without their consent.

Malaysia’s government plans to re-implement laws introduced last year banning the use of social media by 16-year-olds, following moves by countries including Australia, Indonesia and France.