Its minister, Fahmi Fadzil, said the purpose of monitoring social media platforms was to address “irresponsible statements” made during election campaigns.

“Typically, during state seat by-elections or general elections, there are teams assigned to scrutinise these platforms,” Fahmi said as reported by Utusan Malaysia.

“This is carried out at the ministry level and by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), as well as other agencies and departments such as the information department.

“God willing, we will establish a committee for the upcoming by-election,” he said after an event in Nibong Tebal, today.

The Sungai Bakap state seat by-election will be held on July 6, with early voting on July 2.

Nomination of candidates will be held on June 22.

The by-election follows the death of Sungai Bakap assemblyman, Nor Zamri Latiff of PAS, who passed away on May 24 after spending over three weeks in intensive care due to stomach inflammation.

Yesterday, it was reported that there had been a sharp increase in the amount of restricted content in Malaysia, according to data from Meta’s transparency centre.

The number of restricted items found online rose from 536 in 2022 to 8,580 in 2023 – a 16-fold increase in just one year.

In its change log update for the period of July to December 2023, Meta found 4,700 restricted items comprising illegal gambling content, scams, posts on regulated goods, offensive 3R (race, religion and royalty) comments and cyberbullying.

The company said content was categorised as restricted in response to reports by MCMC.