Facebook online safety tops complaints list

Facebook surpassed WhatsApp last year as the social media platform in Malaysia with the most number of complaints about online safety, said Communications and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF) CEO Mediha Mahmood.

She said out of 239 cases lodged with its Complaints Bureau last year, 167 cases were related to social media content while 72 involved false advertising, fake websites and blogs.

“By comparison, of the 734 cases that were lodged in 2022, 518 related to social media while 216 involved false advertising, fake websites and blogs. This means social media made up 70% of all complaints in 2023 or 1% lower than in 2022.”

Mediha said complaints about general online content, including offensive material, accounted for 47% and scams 35%, while those involving fake accounts accounted for 7%, threats (5%), hacked accounts (3%), cyberbullying (2%), and fake news (1%).

“Facebook accounted for the highest proportion of complaints at 34%, followed by WhatsApp at 23% and Instagram at 14%. Telegram and TikTok constituted 12% and 9% of the reported cases respectively, while X made up 6%. YouTube had the lowest share, comprising 2% of reported cases.”

She said Facebook, which has 24.8 million Malaysian users, has a diverse audience, which results in a higher instance of reporting violations.

However, she said WhatsApp which accounts for 24.89 million Malaysian users, is primarily for private communication and may have a more closed environment, stricter privacy controls, and limited visibility and reach to shared content.