Several people who attended the first meeting of Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s multiracial youth political platform have received hundreds of new followers on Instagram, suspected to be automated accounts known as bots.
Liga Rakyat Demokratik member Amir Abd Hadi told Malaysiakini that the group's Instagram account was inundated with new bot followers starting two days ago.
"My personal account got about 500 (new bot followers) and Liga Rakyat Demokratik’s account received almost 1,000,” he said.
Amir added that he had no idea why there was a sudden influx of bots following the accounts, but there was a possibility it could be related to Syed Saddiq's new platform.
“I’m afraid to make any comments because I have no clue,” he said.
Undi18 co-founder Qyira Yusri, who also attended the Aug 31 meeting, confirmed with Malaysiakini that she had a similar experience involving her personal Instagram account.
She has since made her Instagram private but said she has about 300 follower requests from such bots.
When asked whether this incident could be related to Syed Saddiq’s new endeavour, Qyira said she does not know as she is not involved in the setting up of the platform.
“The initial meeting (on Aug 31) was just a stakeholder roundtable,” she clarified.
Orang Asli artist and activist Shahar “Shaq” Koyok was also targeted by suspected bots, though he said it was “not really a lot”.
Meanwhile, Rhodes scholar Nurul Ezzaty Hasbullah posted about her new followers on Twitter yesterday.
“I guess I’ve become an overnight Russian celebrity because there are suddenly hundreds of Russian bot followers,” she quipped.
There were several pictures attached to the tweet, showing accounts with a mix of names and numbers, following her on Instagram.
Former Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) CEO Jalil Rasheed also tweeted about this yesterday.
“Overnight increase of over 500 followers on my public Instagram page, by mainly Russian bots. Lovely,” he said.
These people were among those who had attended the first official meeting of Syed Saddiq’s new platform on Aug 31.
Dubbed “Muda Malaysia”, it is a youth-led multiracial policy-driven political platform aimed at disrupting the political status quo.
Syed Saddiq had also said that the “platform, movement and potential party” would be strictly diverse.
He had also said that the lineup of leaders will mostly be made up of young professionals, activists, startup founders, religious preachers and academics. - Mkini
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