Malaysia said it will take legal action against Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (META.O) for failing to remove “undesirable” posts.
In a statement released on Friday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said: “Facebook has recently been “plagued by” a significant volume of undesirable content relating to race, royalty, religion, defamation, impersonation, online gambling and scam advertisements.”
“Meta had failed to take sufficient action despite its repeated requests and that legal action was necessary to promote accountability for cybersecurity and to protect consumers,” it added.
According to a Reuters report, last year’s closely fought national election has led to a rise in ethnic tensions and since coming to power in November, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration has vowed to curb what it calls provocative posts that touch on race and religion.
The action against Facebook comes just weeks ahead of regional elections in six states that are expected to pit Ibrahim’s multi-ethnic coalition against a conservative Malay Muslim alliance.
Facebook is Malaysia’s biggest social media platform with an estimated 60 percent of its population of 33 million having a registered account.
