School closure: Legal action against those who doctor statements - Mahdzir

The Education Ministry will not hesitate to initiate legal action against those found to have doctored press statements from the ministry regarding haze and schools closure.

Its minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid today said he will be meeting officials from the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to discuss the matter.

“We will ask MCMC for help to ensure this does not become a trend. I will be meeting the MCMC today,” he said when met at Parliament lobby today.

He said he will also discuss with the MCMC’s legal team on actions which can be taken against those who doctored the ministry’s statements.

He said such doctored statements cause concern among parents and urged social media users to exercise responsibility.

“Haze related issues are national issues which not only affects students but also parents. Just a week ago we were in a very uncomfortable zone. I hope social media users will not use this as an issue to be joked about,” he said.

He said when the ministry issues a statement that schools will be closed for a day, for example, some social media users would doctor the statement to appear as two days.

“And some days, statements are doctored to show schools in certain areas are closed when in fact they are not,” he added.

He said official statement will only be issued through the ministry’s Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as Mahdzir’s official social media account.

To date, Mahdzir said five statements have been doctored with one misuse of the ministry’s official letter head.