MCMC Wants You To WhatsApp Them If You Think Someone's Social Media Post Is Insensitive
The new hotline is for social media postings that touches on the 3Rs (Race, Religion and Royal Institution).
By Sadho Ram — 18 Aug 2019, 02:32 PM
You can now submit screenshots of social media postings that insult race, religion or the royal institution directly to the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) through a new WhatsApp hotline the commission set up last night, 17 August
According to MCMC Chairman Al-Ishsal Ishak, reports on insensitive posts related to "3Rs" - race, religion and royalty, can be submitted to the commission through the WhatsApp number 016 220 6262 or via email to mediasosial@mcmc(dot)gov(dot)my.
A complainant would need to attach the screenshot and URL link of the offensive posts.
Al-Ishsal justified the need for the new complaints channel saying that it would accelerate enforcement action against those who post sensitive or problematic "3Rs" content on social media platforms
"To lodge a complaint, Malaysians just need to take a screenshot of the post and copy the link (URLs) of the inappropriate content on social media and submit them.
"For 3R content distributed through the WhatsApp social application or messages circulated on WhatsApp groups, the complaint must contain a screenshot of the inappropriate or negative message, attached with the individual's phone number before submitting to the MCMC's Whatsapp number," Al-Ishsal said.
"The MCMC reminds Malaysians to practise moderation while commenting or making any statements involving sensitive issues, mainly '3Rs' if we want to preserve the harmony and peace which we had achieved for the 62 years," he added.
The MCMC Chairman also warned that people should think before they make a statement or comment on sensitive matters online
"Any comments or statements containing negative elements which could threaten unity amongst the races here must be stopped immediately for the sake of everyone," he said in a statement issued via MCMC's Twitter account, urging Malaysians to be mature.
"So, think before you make any statements or comments on sensitive matters. Never 'tweet', share and make comments that offend any community in this country."
Meanwhile, UMNO senator Khairul Azwan Harun has called the new hotline by the MCMC "undemocratic", saying that the authorities should not be given the power to police freedom of speech
"(The decision) is a sign that (the government deem) Malaysians are too weak to be able to listen to one another's opinions. That we need policing.
"Freedom of speech is not about giving (the) authorities (the) power to (punish). It is about disproving those we disagree with, trusting the people will see right from wrong," Khairul said in a statement today, 18 August, as reported by Malaysiakini.
"If we allow the government to set this up, then we, as a people of this nation, would be declaring defeat. This is a defeat for our democracy," he said, adding that "unfortunately", most Malaysians will support MCMC's effort in view of recent events.
