Noting that the TikTok community guidelines explicitly state that users must be 13 years and older to have an account, Fahmi said that based on observation, many primary school children have TikTok accounts, including in his constituency of Lembah Pantai.

“This is a worrying situation. There are some unhealthy trends we see spreading on social media, including TikTok, and children can be easily influenced. I think we need to monitor what children are browsing when they are on the internet.

“We may have to call the TikTok management to get an explanation regarding the enforcement (of their guidelines),” Bernama reported him as saying after paying a courtesy call on Pahang menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail at Wisma Sri Pahang.

Fahmi said he would also discuss with the attorney-general if it is necessary to take legal action against TikTok’s management regarding account ownership by children, as other countries have done.

In 2019, US authorities fined TikTok US$5.7 million (RM26.9 million) on charges that the platform failed to seek parental consent before collecting names, email addresses and other personal information from users under the age of 13.

In 2021, Dutch data protection authorities also issued a €750,000 (RM3.85 million) fine against TikTok, saying the social media service violated the privacy of young children in the Netherlands.

Asked if TikTok had made improvements after its operational compliance with Malaysian laws was reported to be unsatisfactory, Fahmi said the platform has improved, but “certain actions (to be taken) are being studied together with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission”.

He said action was needed following rampant misuse of the social media platform, including in issues related to extremism.