DEPUTY Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching said it was incumbent upon MPs to ensure their statements were accurate to prevent the spread of fake news.

“If we do not know how to verify information and we believe in fake news, how about people out there? Efforts have been made to educate society (on verifying information), such as the Klik Dengan Bijak programme by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) since 2022.

“Maybe MCMC needs to organise a special session for all MPs, including Kepala Batas MP (Siti Mastura Muhammad), so as leaders we can show we are capable of verifying news before sharing anything,” she said.

Teo said this in reply to a supplementary question from Wong Shu Qi (Kluang-PH), who asked about Siti Mastura’s allegedly false statement, and steps taken by the ministry to improve media literacy among representatives.

Yesterday, DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-PH) gave Siti Mastura until tomorrow to prove he was related to former Malayan Communist Party leader Chin Peng and ex-Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Lim said Siti Mastura’s allegation was baseless and that he would take appropriate action if she could not furnish proof within that period.

In her speech on November 4, which was uploaded on social media, Siti Mastura allegedly implicated Lim and his wife Betty Chew, as well as several DAP leaders.

To a supplementary question from Wan Saiful Wan Jan (Tasek Gelugor-PN) alleging the government acted unfairly in removing the social media post, Teo denied allegations the government practised favouritism in the matter.

In response to Wan Saiful’s original question about laws to control race, religion and royalty (3R) issues on social media and public forums, Teo said MCMC had taken down 3,752 posts deemed fake news or hate speech on 3R issues, under section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 from January to October this year.

“The Communications and Digital Ministry set up the Task Force to Combat Fake News on December 1, 2022, to check fake news that has had a negative impact on the political system and from economy, social, religious and cultural aspects, as well as the security and sovereignty of the country.

“Since its establishment, 156 news items that lacked authenticity on 3R issues, the prime minister and administration were identified. Monitoring, administrative action and legal action were coordinated with various agencies including police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers,” she said.

Teo said police opened 75 investigation papers on fake news and 3R issues, and of this number, 45 cases were closed and 30 were being investigated by police, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and MCMC, as of November 1. – Bernama, November 8, 2023.