CLAIMS that the government will remove information on religion from a citizen’s MyKad are false, the Home Ministry said today in its latest battle against fake news.

The ministry said it received a video with text on January 18 that was being widely shared on WhatsApp, which claimed the religion of an identity card holder will be removed from the card.

This applied to Muslim citizens of Malaysia, who have “Islam” stated below their names on their MyKad.

“The ministry stresses that there is no such plan to conduct a study on removing religion from identity cards.

“The recording of a citizen’s religion is in line with the National Registration Department’s (NRD) regulations, as is the identification of Muslim citizens by stating ‘Islam’ on the MyKad.

“For other religions, that information is recorded in the identity card’s microchip.

“Religious information on the MyKad of a Muslim citizen is an important element to help authorities enforce shariah laws.”

It said people should not spread unverified information and that could cause unease among the public.

Last year, the ministry and NRD had to fend off fake news that it had granted 200,000 citizenships to foreigners in return for their support of the Pakatan Harapan government.

The claim was made by a Twitter user who subsequently deleted the account.

The NRD also had to address rumours on social media that it was issuing MyKad to Chinese nationals. – January 21, 2020.