KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s communications regulator will issue a warning to social media firms Tiktok and Meta for allegedly blocking pro-Palestinian content on their platforms, its communications minister said on Thursday.
“If this issue is ignored, I will not hesitate to take a very firm approach and stance,” Fahmi Fadzil said in a posting on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Without elaborating, Fahmi said many parties had urged the government to take firm action against social media platforms for allegedly restricting pro-Palestinian content.
Representatives of Tiktok and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fahmi said Malaysians have a right to freedom of speech regarding the Palestinian cause, adding that right will not be taken away.
The concerns come two weeks after Fahmi said TikTok had not complied fully with Malaysia’s laws and had not done enough to curb defamatory or misleading content. TikTok in a response said it would take proactive measures to address the issues raised.
Malaysia to warn TikTok, Meta over alleged blocking of pro-Palestinian content
https://arab.news/npfj5
Malaysia to warn TikTok, Meta over alleged blocking of pro-Palestinian content
- Communications minister said Malaysians have a right to freedom of speech regarding the Palestinian cause
Foreign press group welcomes Israel court deadline on Gaza access
- Supreme Court set deadline for responding to petition filed by the Foreign Press Association to Jan. 4
- Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the Strip
JERUSALEM: The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Sunday welcomed the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to set January 4 as the deadline for Israel to respond to its petition seeking media access to Gaza.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.
Israel has instead allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the supreme court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip.
On October 23, the court held a first hearing on the case, and decided to give Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan for granting access.
Since then the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with their plan, but on Saturday it set January 4 as a final deadline.
“If the respondents (Israeli authorities) do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said.
The FPA welcomed the court’s latest directive.
“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” the association said in a statement.
“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip.
“And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the supreme court will recognize and uphold those freedoms,” it added.
An AFP journalist sits on the board of the FPA.
