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Malaysia has banned catchy summer dance song Despacito on state radio and television after critics in the Muslim-majority country complained the lyrics were obscene.
The ban applies only to government-run radio and TV outlets, not to private stations or YouTube or the music streaming services fuelling the song's success.
Malaysia's Communications Minister, Salleh Said Keruak, said the song was reviewed and banned because of public complaints.
The women's wing of a Malaysian Islamist party, Amanah, called for a ban over the song's "obscene lyrics".
"I see this as a serious matter as the song is being sung by young people without knowing the real meaning of the words," Amanah official Atriza Umar said in a statement.
The Spanish-language song, whose title translates to "slowly", was released by Puerto Rican artists Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee in January and then in a remixed version featuring Justin Bieber.
With 4.6 billion streams on leading platforms, Despacito is the most streamed track of all time and the most successful Spanish-language pop song of all time.
The song has also topped charts in 35 countries around the world.
At time of writing, Despacito ranked third in the most-viewed videos on YouTube, with 2.7 billion views.
It was behind two videos with more than 2.9 billion views: South Korean rapper Psy's viral hit Gangnam Style, which sat in second place, and See You Again by Wiz Khalifa in top spot.
Malaysia has previously blocked the release of Hollywood movies deemed offensive to religious values.
The release of Walt Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" was postponed this year after censors cut a "gay moment" in the film.
Wires and ABC
Topics: music, arts-and-entertainment, religion-and-beliefs, islam, malaysia