KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said today that it had not received any instructions regarding the deletion of Perikatan Nasional (PN) election director Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s TikTok account.

"Social media platforms have community guidelines which determine the action that can be taken against any users automatically when a violation has been found, based on complaints from the public,” MCMC said in a statement.

The community guidelines also set expectations, promote comprehensiveness, and reduce harmful content which can disrupt the harmony of a community, it said.

The statement came in response to Muhammad Sanusi’s claim that the government had banned his TikTok account.

The caretaker Kedah menteri besar said in a video shared by PAS official media Harakah on its Twitter page that Malaysia was becoming like North Korea as the government was against freedom of speech.

Earlier today, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail also responded to Muhammad Sanusi’s claim, saying that the government did not have the authority to ban TikTok accounts.

Aside from that, the government has plenty of other work to do, he said.

It was the public who had complained and reported the account, causing the account to be banned, he added.