Fahmi says 299 fake posts on global energy crisis removed as Malaysia intensifies online crackdown

PUTRAJAYA, April 16 — A total of 299 pieces of fake content related to the global energy crisis have been taken down by social media platform providers so far, said Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.

He said the number was out of 450 pieces of fake content identified by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to be taken down from March 29 to 7am this morning.

“So the take down rate is 66 per cent at this time.

“The rest are still in the process of being taken down by the platforms involved because taking down content sometimes takes some time at the platform level,” he told reporters after attending the Communications Ministry’s Monthly Assembly here today.

Also present were Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching, Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Hamzah and Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin.

Detailing the matter, Fahmi said 147 pieces of content related to the Strait of Hormuz had been requested to be taken down, with 122 of them taken down this morning.

“The platform that spread the most false information was Facebook with 180 pieces of content involving various issues, while the second most was TikTok with 134 pieces of content,” he said.

According to him, the increase in false content on Threads was likely related to the ownership of accounts that were interconnected between Facebook and Instagram, thus making it easier for users to open accounts on the platform.

Meanwhile, he also informed that 57 investigation papers have been opened so far regarding the dissemination of false content related to the global energy crisis.

He said that of the total, one case has been decided by the deputy public prosecutor to be prosecuted in the near future, while five cases have received compounding orders, with the compound amount yet to be determined. — Bernama