MORE than 8,410 fake social media accounts exploiting race, religion and royalty (3R) issues have been identified since the Johor state election, Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said today.
Speaking during his winding-up speech at the 2026 PKR National Congress, Fahmi said hundreds of fake accounts seeking to manipulate public sentiment were being detected almost daily.
He said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was working continuously with platform providers to remove flagged accounts and prevent sensitive issues from escalating.
“We have found that recently, particularly from the Johor state election until today, there have been too many fake accounts spreading fake news, false information and similar content,” he said.
Fahmi said the accounts were often operated through a specific modus operandi designed to manipulate public emotions and make fabricated content appear to originate from genuine users.
He said perpetrators created fake profiles using photographs and personal details belonging to real individuals before using them to post sensitive content.
The posts would then be captured as screenshots and circulated online before the original uploads were quickly deleted, making it more difficult to trace their source.
“When we check, the name is the same, and the photograph may be slightly different, but it is not actually the same person,” he said.
Fahmi said authorities would deploy additional technical capabilities to identify and tackle such deceptive accounts more effectively.
He said continued cooperation between authorities and social media platforms was crucial to curbing the spread of false information and preventing the exploitation of sensitive 3R issues to inflame public sentiment. - August 16, 2026
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