MCMC contacts TikTok over block of 18 media accounts

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is in contact with TikTok to obtain clarification on 18 media organisations which were recently blocked, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

According to initial information received from TikTok, the accounts were blocked for reporting on a recent molest case of a girl at a mosque in Batang Kali, he shared.

“The problem is TikTok’s artificial intelligence (AI), here’s a little warning, AI can sometimes go too far and not understand that the media organisation reporting is different from the content produced by ordinary people.

“So I have asked for a discussion to be held in the near future to refine the functions of TikTok accounts owned by the media so that such action is not taken in the future,” he said.

He told reporters this after launching the “AI in the Newsroom” course organised by Bernama, the first course in a series of AI-related training programmes for media professionals.

Also present were Bernama chief executive officer Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, Bernama editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj and Huawei Malaysia chief executive officer Simon Sun.

Also present were Economic News Service deputy editor-in-chief Azlina Aziz, executive editor (acting as deputy editor-in-chief) of International News Service Shukri Ishak, head of Management and Finance Sharifah Zaini Syed Zain and Bernama Commercial head Mastura Hassan.

AI moderation hits a snag

It is understood that TikTok accounts categorised under “official” were among those also subject to the restriction.

Elaborating, Fahmi said the report on the molest case was a normal news report and should not be an issue.

“Here I see the AI problem that TikTok needs to explain to us and media companies,” he added.

Fahmi said TikTok has increased the use of AI-content moderation which sometimes causes misunderstandings regarding content uploaded on the platform.

“So there I see an opportunity for us to discuss with TikTok to give flexibility or perhaps give a different status to media companies because they are creating reports and we also have our own guidelines or code of ethics which TikTok needs to understand,” he added.

Nur-ul Afida hopes that MCMC can help restore the TikTok accounts of all agencies involved.

“I request that this matter be resolved as soon as possible because the content does not involve anything sensitive, we are simply reporting an incident that occurred in our country,” she said.

- Bernama

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