Communication and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has cited a March 30 report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) as a prime example of fake news.
The article was titled “Why are foreign leaders snubbing Najib ahead of Malaysia’s election?”
Salleh quoted the newspaper as claiming that the usual beeline of VIPs coming to Malaysia had come to a crawl and if Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is unable to bring in a big name soon, he would be open to criticism that Malaysia's international standing had fallen under his watch.
“This is a prime example of fake news. And that is not a matter of opinion – it is a fact, as I will show,” he added.
Salleh said apart from the widely observed practice of foreign leaders not making official visits to a country just before an election for fear of being seen to interfere in the country's internal democratic process, the Malaysian government has actually declined foreign visits for that reason.
“So, has the prime minister been snubbed?
“Well, for a start, he was the only Asean leader to be invited to give a keynote address at the Asean-Australia Counter-Terrorism Conference in Sydney last month and the organisers of some major forthcoming international conferences are currently imploring him to attend.
“So hardly 'snubbed',” he added.
Salleh then listed some of the foreign leaders whom Najib had welcomed in Malaysia last year.
“The King of Saudi Arabia, the president of France, the crown prince of Japan, the King of Bahrain, the prime minister of Lao PDR, the US secretary of state, the state councillor of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yong, the emir of Qatar, the prince of Wales and the duchess of Cornwall, the president of Indonesia, the prime minister of Morocco, the president of Comoros, and the governor-general of New Zealand.
“This does not include the world leaders the prime minister was officially received by overseas in the last year. They include: The president and prime minister of China, the president of the United States of America, the prime minister of Great Britain, the prime minister of India, the prime minister of Australia, the president of Libya, the prime minister of Bangladesh, the prime minister of New Zealand, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, the president of Korea, the prime minister of Japan, the prime minister of Sri Lanka, the president of the Maldives, the president of Vietnam, and the sultan of Brunei.
“This is only part of the list, and does not include all the many other world leaders the prime minister has met at summits. It is an extensive list as it is. The SCMP may not realise that the prime minister has a job to do, quite apart from meeting foreign leaders. But of course they do realise this. They just wish to present a fake news story instead,” he said.
Slipshod journalism and smear tactics
According to Salleh, the SCMP article also contained other errors so serious as to count as fake news.
“For instance, it says there has 'been speculation that Najib's government engaged the tainted analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, the company ensnared in global controversy for skewing votes in the US election',” he added.
“There is no need for speculation, as the writer if he bothered with the facts, must know. Both the government and the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, SCL Group, have confirmed that the company has never been contracted to or paid by BN or the government.
“In fact, the head of Cambridge Analytica/SCL Group in Malaysia has publicly confirmed that the only person their advice was provided to Mukhriz Mahathir – deputy president of the opposition PPBM (Bersatu), and son of opposition leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad. So this is more fake news,” he added.
Salleh claimed that SCMP is no longer the widely respected regional newspaper whose reports could be trusted.
“Like a sad number of international publications and media, facts and journalistic process and ethics to them are no longer 'sacred'. Slipshod journalism and smear tactics have infected their articles.
“Read the examples I have given both for the SCMP and other cases. Whether they are deliberate or careless, they are instances of misinformation.
“This is fake news. It is a danger to us all. And the Malaysian government, along with many others around the world, will not hesitate to take the necessary steps ahead of our imminent election to ensure that the well of democracy is not irretrievably poisoned with lies, falsehoods, smears and supposition,” he added. Mkini
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