According to a report from the California-based company, the number is a 20% drop from the requests for 35 FB users’ personal data by Putrajaya during the same first half-year period in 2016. In 2015, the number was only seven.
The report states that 26 of the accounts were requested to facilitate a legal process while the remaining two for emergency purposes.
For the emergency requests, no data was given by the social media giant, however, the report further states some data was produced in 69.57% of the Malaysian government’s legal-process request.
“Facebook responds to valid requests relating to criminal cases,” the company said in its report.
Some of the requests made by the Malaysian government is believed to be related to individuals suspected of involvement in serious crimes or terrorism.
“Each and every request we receive is checked for legal sufficiency and we reject or require greater specificity on requests that are overly broad or vague,” FB said.
A Malaysian security source, who declined to be named, told FMT some, if not most of the requests, could have concerned serious crimes, such as terrorism.
The Malaysian government also made five requests to preserve nine accounts, says the report further.
“We will take steps to preserve account records in connection with official criminal investigations for 90 days pending our receipt of formal legal process,” FB said in its report.
Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as apps like Telegram and WhatsApp, are popular tools for terror organisations to spread their propaganda and recruit members.
A Southeast Asian security expert, Alexander Macleod, recently told FMT that Malaysia still faces threats in the form of lone wolf attacks and digital recruitment despite the nation’s robust counter-terrrorism efforts.