COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY STEPS UP PROACTIVE MEASURES TO CURB FALSE INFORMATION

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- The Communications Ministry, through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), continues to take proactive measures and collaborate with platform service providers and enforcement agencies to monitor the spread of false information on social media.

Deputy Minister Teo Nie Ching said a total of 49,810 false content, out of 58,266 requests submitted by MCMC, or 85 per cent, had been successfully taken down from January 2022 until Nov 30, based on complaints received and the community guidelines set by each platform.

“Continuous monitoring by MCMC allows early action to be taken to curb the spread of false information and political propaganda driven by social media algorithms,” she said when replying to a question from Senator Datuk Salehuddin Saidin in the Dewan Negara today.

Teo said MCMC also launched the Sebenarnya.my Chatbot or Artificial Intelligence Fact-check Assistant (Chatbot AIFA) on Jan 28 to help the public verify and obtain authentic information more easily and quickly.

Replying to Salehuddin’s supplementary question on efforts to counter slander and fake news directed at the government, Teo said the government faces difficulties because content removal falls under the jurisdiction of platform providers.

“They will review the content to decide whether it is fake news and violates their community guidelines before it can be removed,” she said.

She added that 15 per cent of cases could not be taken down because platform providers said they constituted freedom of expression and therefore declined to act.

“We ensure freedom of speech is protected; we still uphold the principle that the public has the right to criticise the government, but when it involves false news, it is wrong,” she said.

Replying to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman on false content generated using AI on social media, Teo advised users to verify information before accepting any content as true.

-- BERNAMA