MCMC takes prevalence of social media fake accounts seriously - Teo Nie Ching

Deputy Minister of Communications Teo Nie Ching said that while the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has provided URL links to social media platform provider META to facilitate the removal of these fake accounts, the issue persists, affecting other prominent figures as well.

"This is a significant challenge, and both the ministry and MCMC are deeply concerned about the creation of fake accounts driven by certain agendas.

"We can see that this is an unhealthy trend, as it now extends beyond the King, also to include the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim," she said after the closing ceremony of the Future Health 4 All event at Dewan Raya Putra Kulai today.

The Kulai MP was responding to a query on the existence of several fake accounts in the King's name.

Teo also expressed disappointment that social media platforms like META have not taken firm action to curb such accounts that use the images of prominent figures to lure the public into online scams.

"MCMC chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din recently met with META either this week or last week. We hope they will improve their screening of these ads.

"Right now, they are indirectly enabling scammers to create fake content to deceive Malaysians. That is unacceptable to us," she said.

In a related matter, Teo urged Malaysians to use MCMC's AIFA, the Artificial Intelligence Fact-check Assistant, to verify any information they receive or encounter online.

She explained that the app, an MCMC initiative, is part of the government's efforts to raise awareness about online safety and combat cyber threats such as scams, fake news, and digital exploitation.

It is intended to encourage the public to verify the news and information they receive to reduce the negative impact of false information.

"This platform functions like a chat box where people can check the accuracy of any information they come across.

"Our goal is to educate the public to verify information on their own. For example, if a false claim circulates that the MADANI government is teaching the B40 group in Malaysia to invest in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency.

"They can ask AIFA whether the information is true, and it will provide clarification," she said.

Previously, the media reported that AIFA had received 57,782 queries since its launch on Jan 28.

MCMC deputy managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Mohd Loksin said AIFA receives an average of 2,140 messages per day.

--BERNAMA