CASES involving the three R's (race, religion and royalty) saw a massive 123% increase this year compared to 2023, said National Unity Minister Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang.
For the first quarter of this year alone, he said there were 47 cases involving religious issues, hate speech and racially-charged speech.
There were only 21 cases in the same period last year.
"Police's statistics on racially-charged arguments showed 162 cases nationwide, with Johor having the most cases at 53, followed by Selangor (34) and Penang (23)," he said in a statement.
The data was gathered from the e-Sepakat system, which was among the mechanisms implemented by the National Unity and Integration Department (JPNIN) to monitor such developments at the grassroots level.
"The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) also removed 1,454 online content related to 3R issues from Jan to March 31 this year.
"The content included 588 cases related to racially-charged speech, 727 related to religious issues and 139 for hate speech involving the royal institution," he added.
Aaron Ago also reminded the people of the need to be responsible and to play a role in upholding harmony, sovereignty, peace and security for the country. - The Vibes, April 6, 2024
