KUALA LUMPUR: Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that further discussions will be made with the relevant agencies and ministries following a meeting with TikTok on the proposal to restrict its e-commerce platform.
He said that the meeting with TikTok held last Thursday, which was chaired by Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching, resulted in the ministry obtaining some basic information about the demographics and the types of products being sold on the platform.
Fahmi nevertheless said that discussion with other ministries and agencies are needed as the Communications and Digital Ministry along with the Malaysian Communications Multimedia Commission (MCMC) jurisdiction only covers the regulation of network usage.
"The regulation of network usage falls under the ministry and MCMC and there are other matters that fall under the jurisdiction of the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry and The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (Kuskop).
"Hence, we will have a little discussion to inform the other ministries and related agencies before we formulate and collect any decisions on the matter."
On a separate matter, he expressed dissatisfaction against the platform, citing that the MCMC has also raised some concerns regarding regulations, where their response does not meet expectations.
"I found that some of the complaints we received could not be answered adequately (by TikTok).
"For example, some parties previously complained to MCMC that they were prevented from conducting TikTok Live broadcasts, specifically to discuss the issue of Palestine.
"However, the response from TikTok was, in my opinion, very embarrassing and it does not provide a good impression."
Following this, Fahmi added that he had requested a final meeting with the social media platform before making any decisions.
"I have requested a final meeting with TikTok before making any decisions. Unfortunately, the cooperation given is lacking up to this day, even though assurances have been given by TikTok.
"I understand there is still no TikTok representative based in Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. For any business with them, we have to wait for officials to come from Singapore and the Philippines.
"This is not conducive.. this cannot go on," he told reporters after handing out Deepavali donations to Lembah Pantai Indian community at People's Housing Project (PPR) Sri Pantai.
On Nov 1, Fahmi told Dewan Rakyat that the government is currently scrutinising the proposal to restrict TikTok Shop.
He said that the matter is still under review, and a series of engagements have been and will be conducted with stakeholders regarding the operation of TikTok Shop in Malaysia.
He also said that at the moment, no decision has been made by the government regarding the restriction of TikTok Shop.
On Oct 4, Indonesia became the first country in the world to ban the feature on TikTok due to it being contravening the republic's law on e-commerce, among other matters.