Kit Siang Urges for a Public Probe Over Meta’s Claim That PDRM Has Been Using Troll Accounts

By Aqasha Nalani  •  08 Aug 2022 in News

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DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, asked for a public investigation conducted by a judge or former judge, to look into the Malaysian police’s suspected connection to false social media accounts, as claimed by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

“The police’s denial of a claim by social media giant Meta that implicated it in attempts to manipulate public discourse by setting up a ‘troll farm’ is weak and unconvincing.

“I call for a public inquiry headed by a judge or former judge to investigate the serious allegation by Meta,” said Kit Siang this morning.

Meta recently stated that they discovered a network of fake accounts that shared Malay memes in favour of the current government coalition and sought to depict its adversaries as corrupt, as well as glorifying the local police force.

“The statement by the Police secretary Noorsiah Binti Mohd Saaduddin which said the police viewed the allegation seriously and are getting more information about the matter, is inadequate,” he added.

He then urged Bukit Aman to explain their stance, as well as to allow Meta to reveal their proof that the government is influencing public discourses via a public inquiry.

He emphasised that instead of doing the contrary, the government and police forces must take real responsibility for clearing up fake news, false claims, and other types of disinformation.

“It would be a serious abuse and misuse of trust of the people if a government or a government department is involved in such a disinformation campaign.

“The government as the trustees of the people should not be involved in such disinformation programmes and this is why the Meta allegation must be taken seriously,” he added.

Meta recently announced that it had identified and removed over 600 accounts across all of its social network platforms for violating the policy against “coordinated inauthentic behaviour,” with the majority of them allegedly part of a “troll farm” aimed at corrupting or manipulating public discourse through fake accounts.