KUALA LUMPUR – The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is still investigating allegations by global tech-giant Meta that the force was running a troll farm in favour of the current government to criticise its political opponents, said PDRM Inspector-General Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.
The IGP again denied the allegations but revealed that the matter is being investigated thoroughly by the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID).
“We vehemently deny (the allegation). We are still investigating and if there is any development, the CCID will give its response,” he said as quoted by The Star.
Previously, PDRM secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin had denied the allegations and said it was gathering more information on the matter and will take Meta’s report seriously.
Last month, In its Quarterly Adversarial Threat Report, Meta claimed that close to 1,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as Facebook groups and pages, were removed for violating the platform’s policy against coordinated inauthentic behaviour.
Meta defines such behaviour as the coordinated use of fake accounts to manipulate public debate for a strategic goal.
According to the report, the network was made up of at least 596 Facebook accounts, 180 Facebook pages, 11 Facebook groups, and 72 Instagram accounts, with a cumulative total of almost half a million followers.
Additionally, the network was active across Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram and “posted memes in Malay in support of the current government coalition, with claims of corruption among its critics”.
On Facebook in particular, the network managed pages that posed as independent news entities and “promoted police while criticising the opposition”.
The report also found that approximately US$6,000 (RM27,048) was spent on advertising on Facebook and Instagram. – The Vibes, September 13, 2022
