Curbing price hike rumours
FAKE NEWS: Ministry will take action to prevent panic buying, says minister
THE Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry will lodge a police report against people who spread rumours on the price hike of goods to prevent panic buying.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, said there were quarters that generated fake news postings to trigger panic buying.
He said the ministry would work with the police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to find and act against those who spread such posts.
“The public should leave breakingnews culture to journalists, who are bound by their profession to verify facts,” he said at the Parliament building lobby here yesterday.
He said the public should verify any rumour on price hikes with the ministry before sharing the information with others, adding that he was infuriated by a recent post on a baseless liquefied petroleum gas price hike.
“I was so upset that I ordered my officer to make a police report. But, the posting stopped spreading after the report was lodged.”
He said panic buying and shortages of essential goods, like cooking oil, occurred when rumours started circulating among consumers.
Hamzah told Dewan Negara that the ministry had brought to court 14 cases, seven of which were related to the hoarding of cooking oil worth over RM500,000.
As of Monday, the ministry had booked another 34 traders for offences related to subsidised cooking oil.
“To prevent cooking oil smuggling, we have conducted large-scale operations nationwide.
“Errant suppliers are raided to ensure that there is no shortage of cooking oil,” Hamzah said.
He was responding to questions from senators related to the cause of the shortage of subsidised cooking oil over the last two months.