Popular social networks owned by Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are on the verge of being blocked due to illegal gambling-related content. Meta, which runs Facebook, managed to avoid a ban in Malaysia, but X.com (former Twitter) faced tougher measures: the platform was blocked in Indonesia. This may be just the beginning of a larger attack on social networks due to their inability to effectively control content.
In late June, Malaysian authorities threatened to block Facebook, citing the spread of gambling and explicit content. There were also rumors that criticism of the royal family could be among the reasons, although this has not been officially confirmed.
Meta quickly responded, declaring its readiness to cooperate with the Malaysian government. The company began actively working on monitoring content and interacting with local regulators. Control over publications was strengthened, fake accounts were excluded, and fraudulent materials were removed. These measures allowed Facebook to be removed from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) blacklist last week.
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At the same time, Malaysian authorities did not limit themselves to online events: a number of arrests were made, millions of dollars, hundreds of kilograms of gold and even 17 luxury cars were confiscated.
But X.com, the new Twitter brand, found itself in a less favorable situation in Indonesia. The social network was blocked due to the same charges – illegal gambling and indecent content. Local authorities expressed dissatisfaction not only with the content of the platform, but also with its new name, which hints at the porn industry. The Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology considered that X.com ignores content laws. If the company does not correct the situation, it risks losing access to 24 million users – and this is a serious blow to the social network.
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Indonesia, the largest country with a Muslim majority, is not the first to introduce tough measures. Last year, the government demanded detailed information about content from platforms such as Netflix, Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Netflix, for example, was blocked for four years (from 2016 to 2020), and TikTok was blocked for several months in 2018.
The world is becoming less tolerant of free speech, and social media platforms often provoke problems themselves by not paying due attention to content. Curious about what’s happening in the world of gambling? Follow global updates on the casino industry and get the insights. Perhaps if content control efforts aimed at supporting geopolitical interests were redistributed to combating illegal gambling, social media would be less likely to be blocked.
