1,443 Offensive Content Involving Children Removed As Of July 15 – Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) -- Social media service providers have removed a total of 1,443 offensive and extreme content involving children across various digital platforms between Jan 1, 2022 and July 15 this year, said Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.

He said the content was removed for violating the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, as well as the community guidelines set by the respective platform providers.

Fahmi was responding to a question from Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi (PN-Tumpat) during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today, regarding the regulatory measures that have been or will be implemented to ensure platform algorithms, such as those on YouTube, do not continue to promote anomalous, toxic, and cognitively harmful content or 'brain rot' content, especially to children and teenagers.

Elaborating, Fahmi stated that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is conducting ongoing engagement sessions with platform providers, such as YouTube and TikTok, to ensure their algorithms are more transparent and aligned with local regulations.

“This includes the need to limit users’ exposure to content that is harmful or contains negative elements,” he said.

Fahmi said that effective Jan 1 this year, internet messaging and social media providers that meet licensing criteria are required to apply for a class licence for application service providers, as part of measures to regulate content and promote more responsible algorithm management. 

He said the Code of Conduct issued by MCMC also imposes measures such as age verification, effective parental control, child safety features, and regular content audits.

Fahmi said the Safe Internet Campaign, launched early this year, is being actively implemented in schools and higher learning institutes, with over 60,000 students having participated to date.

“For now, the campaign will be carried out at 10,000 schools, higher learning and teacher training institutes through various engagement initiatives and collaborations with student representative councils at public universities nationwide,” he added.

-- BERNAMA