Deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching said MCMC also has the power to remove social media content involving children uploaded without the consent of their parents or guardians to ensure that no party is exploited for personal gain.

She said the communications ministry does not have specific guidelines on the matter, but the education ministry has specific guidelines that were issued in 2017 on the use of social media involving teachers and students.

“In principle, images and videos of children must obtain parental consent, because they are the guardians of these children. That consent is necessary and it (the power to remove content) applies to all platforms. Action will be taken if uploaded without permission.

“So if the communications ministry or MCMC receives complaints about images or videos of children that are used on TikTok, or other social media, without parental consent, MCMC will contact the platform to remove that content, because consent is very important,” the Kulai MP said following an event at a shopping mall in her constituency.

On March 18, Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (CMCF) chairman Rafiq Razali was reported to have said that teachers cannot use their students as content on social media, especially without parental consent.

On March 4, education minister Fadhlina Sidek was reported as saying that teachers cannot misuse social media platforms at will and strict action will be taken if they are found to have violated the relevant guidelines.