‘Public has the right to report offensive social media posts’
KUCHING: Members of the public can lodge police reports against social media posts which they feel may be a threat to peace and order, says Assistant Minister of Corporate Affairs Abdullah Saidol.
“Some people have been asking (if they) can they lodge a report against social media postings. Yes, you can, because you have the right, under the constitution, to live in peace and to shield your children and family from harmful elements.
“Take snapshot (screenshot) of the posting and report it to the police,” he said when opening the ‘ Media Briefing on Digital Reporting Made Simpler’ talk here on Thursday.
The Semop assemblyman said the lodging of such reports would allow the relevant authorities to investigate and take appropriate action, such as tracing the originator of the post and getting the perpetrator penalised under the law.
He disclosed to the audience that he had personally received phone calls and text messages from concerned members of the public regarding the abuse of social media.
“There were concerns about all those hate speeches, about some remarks and comments on social media, particularly Facebook, which is seditious in nature, prejudice in nature and promoting ill-feeling, whether intentional or not,” he said.
Take snapshot (screenshot) of the posting and report it to the police. Abdullah Saidol, Assistant Minister of Corporate Affairs
He also shared with the audience that he had come across posts that had spun and edited speeches of leaders including that of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Some of the social media users who send and viral such posts might not even be using his or her real profile photo, he added.
As such, he hoped that the programme, organised by Angkatan Zaman Mansang Sarawak (Azam) and its partners, would come up with solutions to increase public awareness on this matter.
On another matter, Abdullah, on behalf of the government, thanked local media for helping the government to deliver its message to the people regarding its programmes and activities.
He said he understood the difficulties faced by media practitioners in trying to get balanced news, as well as reporting news which might hurt the feelings of certain elected representatives and politicians.
“Sometimes you (media agencies) are in a dilemma, as you do not want to be seen as progovernment, and you want to be ‘berjiwa rakyat’ (people-oriented). You may want to report on matters such as roads (which have been) promised ( but) not built, but it is difficult to get YBs ( elected representatives) to comment when your calls and messages are not replied, and so on,” he said.