KUALA LUMPUR – The spread of fake news cases dropped by 83% during the third movement control order (MCO) compared with MCO 1.0 last year, said Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin.
Zahidi said the decrease means the government has succeeded in preventing the spread of false and defamatory news, and that this is the result of the government’s efforts with the help of the media in combating such news.
“Investigation papers for (fake news in) MCO 3.0 were opened under the emergency ordinance, of which 26 were opened by the police. During MCO 1.0, 169 such cases were lodged with the police as compared with 28 during MCO 3.0,” he said during the Malaysia Hari Ini programme on TV3 today concerning the topic “Not Sure, Don’t Share”.
He said it is important to curb the spread of fake news as it can cause public anxiety, panic and stress, including fear of getting the Covid-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, he said there have been reports of people not showing up for their vaccine appointments after hearing negative comments and disinformation about the vaccine from anti-vaccine groups.
“We (the government) only want to prevent the spread of fake news, not manipulate or frame individuals... some people enjoy spreading fake news without thinking about the consequences and that is why we need to take action against these irresponsible people,” he said.
Meanwhile on Facebook, Zahidi said several people have been arrested after they were found to have uploaded or spread false news about Covid-19 and the emergency.
He said from January last year until June 13 this year, 296 cases were investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
“In this regard, I would like to call on everyone to use social media more wisely and mindfully... not everything that you read on the internet is true... make sure that you check the authenticity of the source first,” he said.
He also urged the public to make use of the sebenarnya.my portal and the KKMM Quick Response Team alerts to check on the authenticity of news item and, if they receive fake news involving public or national interests, to channel the information to sebenarnya.my/salur/. – Bernama, June 15, 2021
