Social media censorship surges during Anwar's first year: Report

Government made the world's highest number of takedown requests to TikTok

- Shannon Teoh

KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia's government made the world's highest number of requests to TikTok to take down content in the second half of 2023, part of a surge in social media censorship that critics say is aimed at silencing political opposition.

According to TikTok's biannual transparency report, Kuala Lumpur made 1,862 such requests - an average of 10 daily - in that period, 5.5 times the number six months before. The whole of 2023 saw 2,202 requests, a more than 30-fold increase from the 70 requests made in 2022.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition came into power after the November 2022 general election.

By comparison, the next highest number of requests to TikTok in the second half of 2023 came from Australia, with 651 submissions. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia was in second place with 351, while Singapore asked for takedowns 47 times.

Malaysia alone was responsible for over a quarter of the world's removal demands in this period.

TikTok did not provide details of the content it was asked to restrict in Malaysia, only saying that it would do so if there was a breach of community guidelines or local law.

Political content on TikTok is dominated by the opposition alliance Perikatan Nasional (PN), and critics have accused the government of silencing dissent by targeting content on the popular video-sharing platform.

PN's success on TikTok was widely credited for the unexpected gains it made at the 2022 general election, with both Parti Islam SeMalaysia and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia more than doubling their seat haul from four years earlier.