Alleged blocking of content supporting the Palestinians has been raised by Malaysia's communications minister, stating that this will be met with firm action against TikTok and Meta, according to Reuters.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has stated that the platforms are accused of blocking and restricting pro-Palestinian content. "I will not hesitate to take a very firm approach and stance," according to a post by Fahmi on X.
(Photo : LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
This picture taken on January 12, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France shows a smartphone and a computer screen displaying the logos of Instagram app and its parent company Meta.
The warning comes after various parties have allegedly urged the communications minister and the Malaysian government to take firm action against the accused social media platforms.
According to a report, Fahmi says, "Malaysians have the freedom to express their opinions on Palestinian issues."
A Meta spokesperson has stated that there is "no truth" to the accusations; moreover, the spokesperson clarified that the platforms' "policies are designed to keep people safe... while giving everyone a voice," according to Reuters reports.
TikTok, on the other hand, has yet to respond regarding the allegations but has recently answered in a report by Al Jazeera regarding the alleged blocking of pro-Palestinian content.
The report states that a TikTok spokesperson reiterated that the company "does not moderate or remove content based on political sensitivities", and that the platform removes "content that violates community guidelines... equally to all content on TikTok."
Read Also: EU Warns Google Over YouTube 'Illegal Content and Disinformation' Related to Israel-Hamas War
TikTok's Cases of Alleged Banning
TikTok, as well as other social media platforms, has been accused of restricting pro-Palestinian content, most notably during the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict. Al Jazeera reports that from the US, Europe, and up to India, various users have accused the social media giants of blocking pro-Palestine voices.
According to the report, Thomas Maddens, a filmmaker and activist, posted a video about Palestine on TikTok containing the word "genocide" and suddenly stopped getting engagement on the platform. Aside from individual accounts, news outlets have reportedly been part of the content restrictions.
Mondoweiss, a pro-Palestine news organization in the United States, claimed TikTok suspended its account a few days after Hamas launched its initial strike on Israel and restored it hours later in response to a public uproar.
Meta's Cases of Alleged Banning
Meta has also received a fair share of accusations from users and pages alike; recently, it reportedly banned the Instagram, Facebook, and Threads accounts of Eye on Palestine (@eye.on.palestine), which has more than 6 million followers and is popular among Palestine supporters, was not available.
The accounts concentrated on disseminating priceless first-person stories of the situation in Gaza, along with videos and pictures of the injured.
The censorship was quickly met with criticism among followers, with others claiming that the pages' deletion was an instance of anti-Palestinian censorship.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone responded, "These accounts were initially locked for security reasons after signs of compromise, and we're working to make contact with the account owners to ensure they have access." Meta has already reportedly reached the owners of the Eye of Palestine account owners and administrators, with it set to be reactivated.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Azmat Khan posted on X that their posts had been "shadow-banned" after her Instagram stories regarding the war in Gaza, claiming it as "an extraordinary threat to the flow of information and credible journalism about an unprecedented war."
Related Article: Big Tech Under EU Scrutiny: Meta and TikTok's Actions During Israel-Hamas War Questioned
