PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has taken the government to task after a minister proposed action against news portal operators which allow social media users to leave inflammatory comments on their stories.
On his Facebook page, Najib said if such a law sees the light of day, most news portals and online publications will stop sharing their stories through social media.
“Forums like LowYat will also close,” Najib warned. “This is because news portals and online media will not be successful in monitoring comments every day. How is it possible to read and monitor every comment?”
Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo today told reporters at Parliament he is considering a law to monitor social media comments.
Najib said this was surprising as PH had always vouched for the freedom of speech and this is stated in their election manifesto.
“But just last week, PH said they wanted new laws to give them powers to erase Facebook, Twitter and Instagram statuses and updates,” he said, referring to suggestions that would empower the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to remove fake news and racist posts online.
Most social media users echoed what Najib said, adding that imposing such a law on the media infringes on freedom of speech and the right to voice out on issues.
One @esshankar1 on Twitter said PH was “sounding like a government of dictators” by “threatening” the media.
Facebook user Yj Ho said portals should not be facing the music for comments others say about their stories.
“Comments are made by the readers, not the portal. This won’t be a progressive step.”
Facebook user Maurice Ryan Downs remarked that forcing single entities to “overwatch an entire flock for a few potential ideas” will require media portals to hire more manpower than they can afford.
“We must always have room for disagreement and room for other points of view. No matter how much we disagree with those views,” pointed out @2016Lahor in response to the report quoting Gobind.
Gobind was quoted as saying that if comments touching on racial and religious sensitivities as well as the royal institution stayed online, it could lead to provocation.
But not all disagreed with Gobind’s proposal. Some, like @SrideranTM, expressed concern that if inflammatory comments were allowed to stay online, it would affect national unity.
Another, @mdfdmdsd, said there should be consequences in place if a person makes comments that are not factual in basis.
That is why, said @alyaaramlan, there was a need for what she called “civic awareness” by those making comments online. “But don’t curtail our right to voice out. That’s wrong”.
Jimmy Lim called on the DAP leader to censor comments first from the “Red Bean Army”, which Umno once labelled as cyber troopers from DAP, who were making “raging comments” without thinking.
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