BN unveils new website as GE14 draws near

The official portal comes on the heels of The Rakyat and Sebenarnya sites launched earlier to promote the BN government and debunk criticisms and rumours.

PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional (BN) has launched its second official political web portal this year to publicise its achievements and counter criticisms ahead of the 14th general election (GE14).

The site, barisannasional.org.my, contains information on BN legislators in each state and major development projects initiated by the current government.

It also features a list of promises it claims BN has fulfilled in areas like healthcare, education, transport, public safety, governance, and urban and rural development.

One section is dedicated to defending BN against alleged fake news, rumours and attacks directed at its leaders and the government.

Some of the section’s items have links to reports and postings by BN-friendly news agencies and social media accounts.

The New Straits Times reported today that the website served to “debunk all slander, fake news and criticisms hurled against it by its naysayers, especially by the opposition”.

In January this year, Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also BN chairman, had launched another BN website, named The Rakyat, to focus on issues related to GE14.

Najib had then said that the portal was necessary in light of the coalition’s experience prior to the last general election in May 2013 where the opposition had used social media as a weapon to discredit BN and spread alleged lies.

He said social media had become the main platform for people to receive information and make their decisions in elections.

He said BN had been a victim of fake news in the last polls, including allegations that Bangladeshis were used as phantom voters and that several counting centres had suffered blackouts.

In March last year, the BN federal government had launched a website named Sebenarnya (Malay for “in truth”) to act as a fact-checking platform on issues raised against itself.

Created under the communications and multimedia ministry, it was touted as allowing Malaysians to check on the authenticity of a news story before they disseminate it.

The ministry had then said that the spreading of false, inaccurate or wrong information could potentially cause anger, panic and unrest.

Last week, the government also tabled the Anti-Fake News Bill 2018 in the Dewan Rakyat which requires any person found guilty of creating, offering, publishing, distributing, circulating or disseminating fake news to be liable to a maximum fine of RM500,000, imprisonment for up to 6 years, or both.

The bill describes fake news as any news, information, data or report which is wholly or partly false, whether in the form of features, visuals, audio recordings or any other form capable of suggesting words or ideas. -FMT