The Malaysian government has accused TikTok of censoring pro-Palestine content, warning the short-video platform of strict action in case of continuing suppression.
The warning arrives as social media users around the world continue to report surreptitious and indiscriminate instances of removal of pro-Palestine content posted to leading platforms such Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) issued last week a “stern” warning to TikTok and Meta for blocking content in support of Palestine, according to the country’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fazdil.
“If this issue is ignored, I will not hesitate to take a very firm approach and stance,” Fazdil said on X, previously known as Twitter, on Thursday.
The development brings forth several Big Tech platforms’ discriminatory actions against users who are posting in support of Palestine amid Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza, where the internet and cellular services remained cut off for nearly two days. A total communications blackout took over Gaza after Israeli airstrikes left the infrastructure damaged on Friday, according to Gaza’s telecom service provider, Paltel Group.
Meta, which owns both Facebook and Instagram, has already heaped up complaints and criticism from around the world for its questionable practices targeting pro-Palestine content. Recently, Instagram made headlines after it admitted to adding the term “terrorist” to a number of profiles that identified themselves as Palestinian, claiming the insensitive insertions were a result of a technical glitch in the platform’s auto-translation feature.
However, a large number of users have voiced their concerns against Meta’s censoring of their pro-Palestine content over the past two weeks of Israeli aggression over Gaza, saying their posts are either being demoted or “shadow banned”, which refers to unexplained limited reach and reduced visibility. Several prominent figures with a large following on Instagram have also complained about discreet and unfair treatment of their pro-Palestine content.
7amleh, a nonprofit organisation that works for Palestinian digital rights, told The Intercept that they have received a large volume of complaints concerning the demoting of their pro-Palestine content. Users have reported their comments, especially ones containing the Palestinian flag emojis, are pushed to the bottom of the comments section and are visible only upon clicking the “more” option. The Intercept, in its report, cited confirmation from Meta regarding the censoring of the Palestinian flag emoji, which the company claims it is taking down in case of “offensive” contexts violating the community guidelines.
