Minister makes feeble attempt to deny Umno paid bloggers

Shabery Cheek says ‘I don't know’, then denies Umno ever paid cybertroopers and bloggers to aid their online campaign.

KUALA LUMPUR: Caught in a tight spot, Umno supreme council member and minister of communications and multimedia Shabery Cheek struggled to give a straight answer to questions from the media on whether Umno funded cybertroopers to wage an online war against the opposition.

Denying any move by Umno to pay cybertroopers, Shabery was however unsure if bloggers were being paid to write flattering entries in support of Umno.

Saying, “I don’t know. I don’t know if we are paying them or not,” the minister did acknowledge that some bloggers were “sympathetic” to Umno but that they were merely supporters.

Defending his party’s president who apparently alluded to Umno-funded bloggers in his speech, Shabery said Najib Razak was misquoted.

He explained that all Najib said was that there were bloggers who were sympathetic to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and others who supported Umno instead.

Shabery insisted there was no mention of anyone being paid.

His declarations however were in direct contrast to the proud announcement made just days before by Puteri Umno that their “cyber commando” unit called Fire Ant Front were ready to wage all-out war on the opposition’s supposed Red Bean Army.

Speaking excitedly about this latest development was Puteri chief Mas Ermieyati Samsudin who said, “We realise the seriousness of the situation. We are using digital technology and social media to counter-attack (the opposition).”