Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil today said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been instructed to look into elements of disinformation spread through social media postings related to the KK Mart issue.
Specifically, Fahmi during a post-cabinet press conference at Angkasapuri, cited a Malaysiakini report yesterday that highlighted possible attempts at promoting “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” (CIB).
“This is related to the same message being repeated on the same platform by a number of unidentified accounts.
“Whether it is done on purpose or with a certain motive. I have asked MCMC to look into the Malaysiakini report which was quite good,” he said.
It is believed that the first post was made by e-commerce businessperson Fikri Nasir on March 17 - three days after KK Mart apologised for selling socks with the word Allah printed on them.
That post was shared more than 14,000 times and garnered more than 3,000 comments. Fikri, whose page is open to the public, has 2,700 followers on Facebook.
Many flagged contents identified
From March 18 onwards, dozens of other posts of the same wording were shared by Facebook users either on their personal but public accounts or in public groups with a wide reach like “Kaki Viral”, which has more than 542,000 members.
Commenting further, Fahmi said he also instructed MCMC to look into related flagged content on other platforms, including 1,040 TikToks reported for possible violations of community guidelines or Malaysia’s internet laws.
“Since the KK Mart socks issue started on March 13 until today, MCMC reported that TikTok has identified over 1,000 flagged contents.
“This is quite worrying,” he said.
From the total number of flagged content, Fahmi said some 15 percent were not taken down by TikTok, adding it shows that the government has no influence over the platforms’ final decisions.
“MCMC and I will continue to monitor and ensure that the use of social media is in line with the rights to freedom of speech and expression, without going against any laws,” he said.
On a related matter, Fahmi said he has yet to receive information regarding the reported doxxing of two individuals who allegedly made insulting online comments over the issue of the word Allah printed on socks.
Both men - one in Kuala Lumpur and one in Kota Kinabalu - were separately arrested, charged, jailed and fined.
The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court earlier today sentenced Chiok Wai Loong, 35, to six months in jail and fined him RM12,000.
Similarly, in Kota Kinabalu, a Muslim convert was sentenced to six months in jail and fined RM15,000 for posting an offensive Facebook comment about Islam concerning the Allah socks scandal. - Mkini
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