Facebook says no to Putrajaya’s request for details on 197 users

Facebook had rejected on 7 occasions a request from Putrajaya for information on 197 users.

However, from the data revealed in the first ever Global Government Requests Report by the social networking site, the Malaysian government did not receive any information from them.

Malaysia, the report showed, asked for the information in seven requests.

"We scrutinise each request for legal sufficiency under our terms and the strict letter of the law, and require a detailed description of the legal and factual basis for each request.

"We fight many of these requests, pushing back when we find legal deficiencies and narrowing the scope of overly broad or vague requests," said Facebook's General Counsel Colin Stretch.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) could not be reached for comment.

The report showed that 74 countries had requested for information about more than 37,954 accounts on Facebook and that the vast majority of these requests relate to criminal cases, such as robberies or kidnappings and national security.

The statement said these government requests include basic subscriber information, such as name, the date when they joined Facebook, IP address logs and actual account content.

At least half the requests came from The United States (20,000 to 21,000 accounts).

Neighbouring Singapore had requested information on 117 Facebook users and received 70% of the information it requested.

Stretch pointed out that while governments had an important responsibility in keeping people safe, it was possible to do so with transparency.

"Government transparency and public safety are not mutually exclusive ideals. Each can exist simultaneously in free and open societies, and they help make us stronger.

"We strongly encourage all governments to provide greater transparency about their efforts aimed at keeping the public safe, and we will continue to be aggressive advocates for greater disclosure," he added.