KUALA LUMPUR – Amanah has lodged a police report here over social media content that could incite racial and religious disharmony.
Its national mobility chief Mohd Sany Hamzan said the reports were not to stifle freedom of expression, but messages that could affect national harmony must be avoided.
“I urged police to take action and investigate after these reports have been lodged. Racial and religious insensitivities have continued even after (Pakatan Harapan chairman) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim became prime minister,” he told reporters after lodging a police report at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters here today.
“We will also continue to put out educational content on social media platforms such as TikTok to ‘correct’ the misinformation.”
He added that the police reports were not meant to be punitive but served as a warning to users against posting inciting content.
Previously, netizens were increasingly concerned over escalating hate propaganda spread by certain irresponsible quarters who had been inciting racial and religious tensions following the election results last Saturday.
Attention was directed to disinformation and messages regarding the deadly May 13, 1969 racial riots that had been disseminated on TikTok.
A few users claimed that some children in schools were openly discussing the danger of supporting a government involving certain parties, in what appears to be a result of indoctrination by false narratives.
Addressing concerns over incendiary content on social media, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) interim chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din issued a statement warning of stern action against netizens who promote hate speech and provocative content.
Salim said that the MCMC will continue to monitor the spreading of disinformation and insulting statements towards the three “Rs”, which are race, religion, and royalty.
“Any sharing of content that is false, insulting, and threatening is an offence under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998,” he said.
He added that convictions under the act could lead to a maximum fine of RM50,000 and a one-year prison sentence, or both.
Responding to concerns over content on its platform, TikTok had reportedly said yesterday that it continues to be on “high alert” and will “aggressively remove” content that violates its community guidelines, including video, audio, livestream, images, comments, links, or other text. – The Vibes, November 26, 2022
