The Malaysian government had requested information on 197 Facebook users from the social media giant in the first six months of 2013, but received none.

According to data released by Facebook yesterday, the government had asked for this information in seven requests.

However, Facebook did not provide any information as it is not compelled by law to provide any of the information requested.

It also did not specify the nature of the requests, although it said all requests reported include those relating to crime and national security.

This information follows several investigations by Malaysian authorities on information posted on Facebook accounts.

NONE Among those investigated were bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee and a Facebook user who posted allegedly inflammatory content against Christians and East Malaysians.

Tan and Lee were charged with insulting Islam in a Ramadan greeting posted on Facebook while investigations into the second matter are pending.

There were also police reports lodged against the parent who exposed on her Facebook account the SK Seri Pristana pupils who were made to eat in a shower room, instead of the canteen, during their recess.

According to Facebook , most of the requests made by governments are related to probes into criminal cases such as robberies and kidnappings.

"We disclose account records solely in accordance with our terms of service and applicable law. A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request or letter rogatory may be required to compel the disclosure of the contents of an account," it said.

A letter rogatory is a formal request from a court to a foreign court for some form of judicial assistance.

Requests from the Malaysian government are relatively low compared with that from other countries like the United States and India, which requested information on more than 20,000 and more than 4,000 users, respectively, between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013.

Singapore had requested information on 117 users during the same period and 70 percent of those requests were granted.

Russia, on the other hand, only made one request but it was not granted.

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