Fabricated posts falsely claim Malaysia plans to shut down TikTok
- Published on December 31, 2025 at 06:51
- 2 min read
- By Raevathi SUPRAMANIAM, AFP Malaysia
Malaysia has moved to bring large social media platforms under the country's legal and regulatory frameworks to increase protection of minors and ensure accountability, but social media posts claiming the government will ban TikTok share an altered news graphic from a major broadcaster. TV3 said it never published such an article and has lodged a police report, while Malaysia's media regulator said it has opened an investigation into the matter.
The purported graphic from Malaysian broadcaster TV3 was shared on Facebook on December 29, 2025.
It features an image of Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil and a headline reading "TikTok Malaysia will be shut down because it causes losses to our country - Fahmi Fadzil".
The Malay-language post reads, "Just close down MCMC as well", referring to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the country's telecommunications and media regulator.
Social media platforms with more than eight million local users, will automatically come under Malaysian laws from January 1, 2026, as part of a government push to protect children from online harms and strengthen platform accountability (archived link).
Among services that meet the criteria are Meta platforms’ Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, ByteDance’s TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube, as well as Telegram.
The Southeast Asian country is also considering banning social media for children under 16 as it seeks to tighten access over child-safety concerns, following Australia, which has implemented such a ban (archived link).
Similar posts claiming Malaysia will ban TikTok circulated elsewhere on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
However, the news graphic is fabricated and there are no official reports the country will ban the social media platform entirely.
A close inspection of the circulating news graphic found it contains the logo of Google's AI tool Gemini at the bottom right corner, indicating it was generated with AI.
The style of the graphic does not match genuine news images published by TV3, including the date being in the top-right corner instead of the bottom-left, as well as different fonts being used.
A Google keyword search led to a post by local broadcaster TV3 published on Threads on December 29, 2025, denying that it had published such a report (archived link).
"The post regarding Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil in relation to TikTok is fake and fabricated and spread by irresponsible parties," said the broadcaster, adding that it has lodged a police report.
The minister also called the false claims "slander" on his official Facebook account on December 29 (archived link).
A subsequent search led to a statement from Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in which the regulator confirmed that it is investigating the use of TV3's logo to spread false news (archived link).
"MCMC's initial investigation found that the content had been modified and confirmed to be false, and that the statement had never been issued by the Minister of Communications," it said in the statement.
The regulator said one person suspected of being involved has been summoned to help in the investigation.
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