PUTRAJAYA does not have the jurisdiction to ban any TikTok accounts in Malaysia, including one that belongs to caretaker Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said. 

Downplaying Sanusi’s claim that the federal government had suspended his TikTok account, Saifuddin said Putrajaya has more important matters to focus on. 

“Today the caretaker MB of Kedah said his TikTok account had been blocked and claimed that Malaysia has become North Korea. 

“I certainly don’t agree because it’s not the government that does it. We also have a lot of other work to do,” he said on Twitter today. 

At a ceramah in Baling last night, Sanusi said Putrajaya got his TikTok account blocked.

He said the move was to stop him from talking to the people in the run-up to the August 12 state elections.

He claimed that the TikTok accounts of several other PN leaders were also blocked.

Saifuddin however said that the social media app itself could have taken action against Sanusi’s account based on public complaints. 

He said the public would have probably lodged complaints to TikTok on Sanusi’s account, which led to the ban. 

“If TikTok receives many reports and complaints from other users, then TikTok will ban the account.

“The public are the ones who banned him, not the government. The public (probably) made reports and TikTok would have banned him,” he said. 

Sanusi however has opened a new TikTok account. 

The Perikatan Nasional election director opened the new account late last night under the username @sanusimdnor74.

The new account has garnered more than 80,000 followers since its creation some 12 hours ago. –  July 16, 2023.