Curb on false news to safeguard harmony — Salleh

KUALA LUMPUR: Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak has called on all Malaysians to help defend the country from fake news or accounts which have bad intent, and are defamatory or seditious in nature.

“Respect in our diversity and harmony must be strengthened as a Malaysian way of life,” he said in his latest post on his blog sskeruak.blogspot.my yesterday.

He said it was time for people to make full use of initiatives like the sebenarnya.my portal and make it a habit to check the authenticity of the news first before sharing it with others.

According to Salleh, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had taken action against 3,047 fake accounts on various social media platforms identified between January and September, this year.

He noted that almost 80 percent of 3,047 fake accounts had been deleted by social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for violating the terms and conditions set by the respective providers.

Even Internet giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google China’s Baidu Inc. were cooperating with the government as they were constantly pressured to improve on their algorithms by using a combination of technology and content authorisation to minimise fake news, he said

“Let us remind ourselves if we come across suspected fake accounts or fake news or information, we should use the ‘report’ facility provided by the relevant social media concerned, so that action can be taken as soon as practicable. We can also report to the MCMC of such acts.

“Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA 98) makes it an offence ‘to make or create content that is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in nature’,” he added. - Bernama