According to newly appointed Communications and Digital Minister, Fahmi Fadzil, over a thousand videos of the 15th general election on the social media platform Tik Tok which were deemed extreme and provocative were removed using its Artificial Intelligence (AI) system.

Fahmi stressed that the ministry would work with Tik Tok and other social media platforms to ensure that there is no content that touches or covers sensitive issues especially on the 3Rs, which is royalty, religion and race.

Fahmi stated to reporters after a federal cabinet meeting at Putrajaya that his ministry has already started a process to strengthen cooperation between the government and social media platforms to make it safe for everyone.

Besides studying existing laws, the ministry will evaluate whatever measures are needed and ensure that not only do social media platforms conform to the law but also be responsive to requests made by the government to remove offensive material.

On speculation that some political parties paid content creators to disseminate their political agendas through social media platforms, the minister stated that his ministry is currently looking into laws concerning this scenario.

Fahmi stated that efforts to make the social media ecosystem more regulated is necessary but freedom of speech will not be compromised though fake news, content with extremism and hate speech or inciting violence was strictly forbidden.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE