Fahmi said preliminary reports suggest the bans were related to the outlets' coverage of the alleged child molestation case in Batang Kali. — CHRISTOPHER FAM/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the recent banning of 18 TikTok accounts belonging to media outlets was the result of artificial intelligence (AI) moderation.
Among those affected was Bernama, the national news agency. Fahmi said preliminary reports suggest the bans were related to the outlets' coverage of the alleged child molestation case in Batang Kali.
"AI can miss the mark from time to time, it does not understand that reports made by media outlets are different from the content produced by ordinary people.
"I have asked for a discussion in the near future to give some leeway or establish a different status to TikTok accounts belonging to the media companies so that such incidents will not happen again in the future," he said.
He said the government has requested TikTok to restore the accounts and provide an explanation to both the government and the media.
TikTok’s community guidelines state that Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) is not permitted, including any screenshots or clips from the original material, even if they do not depict nudity or sexual activity.
TikTok had previously informed the government that it would be increasing the use of AI moderation, according to Fahmi.
LifestyleTech has reached out to TikTok and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) but has not received a response as of publication time.
Fahmi made these comments after his opening address at the launch of the "AI in the Newsroom" programme, organised by Bernama with support from Huawei and Redtone.
The two-day course, offering 40 slots for news editors and reporters from various publications, aims to encourage media practitioners to adopt AI technology.
Fahmi urged participants to share the knowledge gained from the programme with their organisations and further promote the adoption of AI.
