Don’t help spread false information on the net

Editorial

Kwong Wah, August 1, 2016

The social media is so prevalent that it has become an open avenue and every netizen can become a news writer. As many surfers reject news on the print media or are reluctant to accept the reality, information on social media have become more popular for them.  As a result, false information have become common on the net. They consist of either twisted fact or information being simply forwarded blindly. These people fail to distinguish between right and wrong and this is a very unhealthy trend.

Every time when a case happens, it will be followed by volumes of fake news which not only impede Police work but also cause public concern. After the recent killing case in Setapak, a picture showing the arrest of four suspects went viral. In actualfact, this is an old picture and the four Indian youths were being arrested for avoiding police check.

When the four youths realized the fake story was being spread on-line they immediate came out in the open and declared that they were not the gunmen. The irresponsible culprits who posted the false information could have led to the killing of the four youths if the underground gangsters believed the false story.

During the occurrence of these shooting incidents, rumor of another shooting case in Shah Alam area went viral on social media. Fortunately, the Police made an immediate clarification that three youths had been detained to help investigation into the seizure of two fake guns. The incident has been twisted and turned into a piece of fake news.

In another case, the video recording of a group of Selangor football fans throwing smoke bombs near the Police quarters has also been falsely spread as riots by the red-shirts in Penang. Those who posted such images are very irresponsibly and they are indeed the instigators if their action caused public panic.

Also recently, more than 100 people jammed up the National Registration Office due to a false notice on the hand-phone saying one can exchange red ICs with Mykard. Subsequently, the authorities clarified that the message was fake and those who came from afar went home with disappointment. It is so unfair to them.

Even though there is freedom in Internet, such freedom has been abused by rumor mongers and they should indeed be dealt with. Rumor mongers want chaos and confusion and netizens should think twice before forwarding or spreading such false information. Otherwise, it would not be easy for us to shirk our responsibility as rumor mongers.

Don’t just for the sake of a moment’s blissfulness and share any information without studying in detail its content. It is simply unhealthy.