Malaysia govt a crucial player in curbing inappropriate social content, says study

Social media safety has always been a concern among brands and governments. Recently in Malaysia, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has not only taken action against 2,823 social media accounts for fraudulent activities, but also ordered social media platforms to remove the full and edited versions of videos regarding the recent Christchurch shootings. In a survey by Astro Awani and online market research company Vase.ai, 80% of the 1,080 respondents said that the government should impose a penalty for inappropriate content being shared.Also, 79% of respondents within this group said the government should punish those who create the content. Meanwhile, 86% sees the government to be responsible for educating the public on social media etiquette, and 61% of those in this group thinks the government is not doing enough to educate the public. Social media companies are not absolved of the responsibility either. About 82% of respondents said that social media companies are responsible to prevent the distribution of racial prejudice, religious prejudice, gender prejudice, sexual or violent content. Meanwhile, 84% think that social media companies should vet through content shared by the people before it goes public. For example, delaying live streams so that there is sufficient time to check content. Also, 70% believe that social media companies should work with the government in sharing information about suspicious activities, helping the latter prevent terror events from happening. While 92% said that social media companies are responsible for keeping content safe for consumption, 70% of this group said that they are not doing enough. Meanwhile, nearly half (47%) indicated that social media companies should be regulated by their own rules and regulation together with external party but it doesn't have to be government. WhatsApp and Facebook come out on top Compared to last year, 49% of respondents said they spend more time on social media while 11% indicated they spend less time. WhatsApp and Facebook were ranked the two most popular social media platforms among Malaysians, with 92% and 89% of the 1,080 individuals surveyed having an account on the respective platforms. Meanwhile, WhatsApp (97%) and Facebook (84%) are also mainly skewed towards everyday usage. Instagram (70%), YouTube (68%) and Facebook Messenger (64%) were ranked among the top five social media platforms in Malaysia. While majority of consumers use Instagram (75%) and YouTube (72%) on a daily basis, only half of those surveyed indicated they use Facebook Messenger everyday. About 23% of the other half use the platform every two to three days, while 10% use it every four to six days. The remaining respondents either use it weekly or monthly. (Photo courtesy: 123RF)