Malaysia among over 60 countries that requested user info from Facebook

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia was among over 60 countries that requested information from Facebook on over 38,000 users in the first half of this year, Facebook said in a report released Wednesday.

The Malaysian government had forwarded seven requests to access the information of 197 users during the period.

Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek had reportedly said the requests were made by the government and were rejected by Facebook.

 Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch, however, stated that they have a stringent process to handle the requests and will only release the information if the requests have legal sufficiency.

   In recent months Facebook users in Malaysia have made headlines for various reasons, mostly for insensitive comments centred on religious believes and practices.

  In the report, United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy were among governments which submitted the most number of requests.

  According to Facebook's Global Government Data Request, the information were needed to assist in official investigations, including criminal cases.

Facebook did not specify the types of requests it received from each government or what type of information it handed over. 

However, it did say that the "vast majority" pertained to criminal cases such as robberies or kidnappings. Requests on national security matters also featured in the list, it added.