TikTok on eggshells in Malaysia as officials crank up pressure

Sign up for the Daily Newsletter, sent exclusively to our premium subscribers. We break down the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community. Get the newsletter in your inbox everyday with a premium subscription.

Hi readers,

I grew up in a so-called digital transitory era. My first chat application was IRC (A/S/L, anyone?), thenI just rolled with everything that came after, from ICQ to MSN Messenger to WhatsApp and Signal (every journalist’s favorite). That’s also how I’ve dealt with social media, from Friendster (LOL!) to TikTok.

Am I showing my age? I’m a millennial, after all: Social media is a familiar space, just a part of life. But not everyone has the same attitude, though, especially if you’re in government. Granted, governing is tough business and the burden of leading a country is heavy.

But in this day and age when people live online, how do you keep a tight rein on people’s essentials?

Don’t scoff – social media is an essential item these days. How else can you reach the masses to promote your new product at little to no cost? The same can be said for a political movement: You can gain immense traction or generate so much hate by just posting something on a social platform.

That’s what’s happening with TikTok right now. It’s the friendliest social media platform compared to X, Facebook or even Instagram. That makes TikTok not only a favorite among users, especially content creators and small and medium-sized businesses, but it’s also the tool of choice among users bent on spreading propaganda, hateful content, and disinformation or misinformation.

TikTok has always defended its content policies and moderated posts on its platform. But controlling everything there remains a problem, to the chagrin of governments everywhere. In Malaysia, TikTok and other social media platforms are on the radar of Fahmi Fadzil, the country’s communications and digital minister. He wants them under his ministry’s thumb.

More recently, he accused TikTok and Meta, Facebook’s parent company, of censoring pro-Palestinian content. Both platforms rejected his claims. People whom I spoke to also alluded to the fact that the Malaysian government has not upped its social media game, and Fahmi’s reaction points to the wider inability of governments to spread propaganda online.

The truth is, platforms including TikTok have to wake up to the reality that governments everywhere will want to rein them in, anda ban is not off the table. But the opposite is also true: Governments are afraid of losing the public’s support and will do whatever it takes to placate their voter base.

— Emmanuel Samarathisa, journalist at Tech in Asia

Top stories this week

Image credit: Timmy Loen

1️. Bukalapak’s president on its IPO’s ‘sheer luck’ and why he’s not worried over stock prices
After taking the ecommerce firm public and refocusing its business, Teddy Oetomo shares what he’s learned three years into the role.

2. Shopee, Lazada may struggle to fill void left by TikTok Shop
TikTok must also decide whether Southeast Asia’s political dynamics is worth the commitment.

Did you miss us last June? Great news: We’re coming back to HCMC for another round of our exclusive, founders-only networking event!